Prime Minister Narendra Modi on 19 April accused the Trinamool Congress of ‘betraying’ women by preventing the passage of the Constitution (131st Amendment) Bill, 2026 in Parliament. The Prime Minister asserted that the women would punish the ruling party in West Bengal in the upcoming assembly polls.
Addressing an election rally at Bishnupur in Bankura district of West Bengal, the prime minister attacked the Mamata Banerjee-led party over its opposition to the bill, which sought to tweak the Women’s Reservation Act of 2023.
The Constitution Amendment Bill to tweak the Women’s Reservation Act 2023, or the Nari Shakti Vandan Adhiniyam, was defeated in the Lok Sabha on 17 April as the Union government failed to get a two-thirds majority in the House during the special session.
This basically meant the Lok Sabha rejected the Narendra Modi government’s proposal to expand the Lok Sabha’s existing strength from 543 to 850 seats and to allow delimitation of seats based on the 2011 Census.
Addressing the nation on Saturday, PM Modi accused the Opposition of blocking the Women’s Reservation Bill, saying that they “crushed” their dreams despite the government’s sincere efforts.
At his Sunday rally, PM Modi alleged that the ruling party betrayed the women because they are challenging TMC’s ‘mahajungleraj’ in West Bengal.
“The TMC does not want women empowerment and reservation. It does not want women from West Bengal to become MPs and MLAs in large numbers because women of the state are challenging its ‘mahajungleraj’. That is why they conspired with Congress and opposed the bill. The women of West Bengal will punish TMC in this election,” he said.
“Cowardly, hypocritical and fork-tongued’ speech: Mamata
West Bengal Chief Minister and TMC chief Mamata Banerjee on Sunday hit back at Prime Minister Narendra Modi over the reservation of women legislators, claiming that the party has championed higher political representation for women.
In an She accused PM Modi of misleading the nation.
She termed PM Modi’s address to the nation a “cowardly, hypocritical and fork-tongued” speech.
Bi-polar Election
West Bengal votes in two phases in 23 and 29 April. The results will be announced on 4 May. The contest is considered bipolar between the ruling TMC and a resurgent Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).
Modi used the occasion to draw a sharp contrast between what he called the BJP’s politics of women’s empowerment and the TMC’s “betrayal” of West Bengal’s women.
“The BJP’s identity is tied to women’s empowerment and their safety. We want the role of daughters to expand in building a developed India and more and more daughters to enter politics. But you saw what happened in Parliament. The TMC has betrayed the sisters of West Bengal once again,” he said.
West Bengal is witnessing an increasingly polarized campaign. While the BJP is attempting to take away a section of the TMC’s formidable women vote, the defeat in Lok Sabha for NDA to a bill linked to women’s quota in the Parliament has suddenly given the saffron party a new line of attack.
Modi also accused the TMC of appealing infiltrators while denying women their due.
“This is the same TMC which breaks every law and every rule to benefit infiltrators, but opposes women’s empowerment. It is also the same party that is actively promoting religion-based reservations. In doing so, it is undermining the spirit of the Constitution,” he said.
With the BJP trying to portray the election as a battle between “fear” and “trust”, Modi said the crowds at his rally reflected public anger against the ruling party.
The TMC does not want women empowerment and reservation. It does not want women from West Bengal to become MPs and MLAs in large numbers.
“This enthusiasm is a reflection of the people’s anger against the TMC’s ‘nirmam sarkar’ (cruel government),” he said.
