Modi Says Opposition will Face Consequences for Defeating Women’s Reservation Bill, Opposition Says It Only Defeated BJP’s “Conspiracy”

Manas Dasgupta

NEW DELHI, Apr 18: The Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who is scheduled to address the nation at 8.30 PM on Saturday, probably to target the opposition for defeating the delimitation bill linked with women’s reservation, told his cabinet colleagues that the opposition would have to face consequences for committing the mistake of not supporting the Women’s Reservation Bill.

His criticism comes a day after the crucial legislation failed the parliament test amid opposition backlash over the government’s approach in linking the bill for reservation of 33 per cent seats in the Lok Sabha and state Assemblies for women with the delimitation of constituencies to raise the total strength of the Lok Sabha.

The Constitution (131st Amendment) Bill aimed to reserve 33% of seats for women in the Lok Sabha and state assemblies. But it failed to secure a two-thirds majority to pass the Lok Sabha. The Bill received only 298 votes in its favour, while 230 MPs opposed it, after a heated debate that began on Thursday and went past midnight into Friday.

Opposition must face the consequences and answer the women, Mr Modi is reported to have said at the cabinet meeting on Saturday morning convened to discuss the West Asia situation in the light of the fragile ceasefire between the United States and Iran. “They have let down the women of the country. This message must be taken to every single person, to every single village,” the prime minister further said, according to sources.

Opposition parties had earlier said they supported women’s reservation in parliament but found the government’s approach to be politically motivated. There were also opposition concerns that once delimitation occurs, the southern states might see a drop in their representation in parliament.

As the BJP leaders including the Delhi chief minister Rekha Gupta, staged protests on the streets of Delhi and burnt an effigy of the Leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi, for leading the opposition to defeat the bill on the floor of Parliament on Friday night, the Congress general secretary and Wayanad MP Priyanka Gandhi Vadra said the constitutional amendment bill was a ‘conspiracy’ by the Centre to rule forever and weaken the democracy in the country.

Speaking at a press briefing at Congress headquarters in New Delhi, Priyanka said the government brought this bill to bring delimitation, which the opposition has alleged to weaken the southern and north-eastern states. However, the bill’s failure in Lok Sabha was a ‘victory of democracy’ and showed the unity of the opposition, the senior Congress leader said. She also alleged that the Centre was under tremendous international pressure which has become ‘very obvious’ and was quite visible to the public.

“First of all, I would like to say that what happened yesterday was a very significant victory for democracy (referring to defeat of Women’s Reservation Bill in Lok Sabha). The government’s attempt to alter the federal structure and weaken democracy, was defeated and stopped. It was a victory for the Constitution, the country, and unity of the opposition. This was clearly visible on the faces of leaders from the ruling side,” she said.

Priyanka, who is a Lok Sabha MP from Kerala’s Wayanad, said all opposition parties are in favour of women’s reservation if the government decides to implement the Nari Shakti Vandan Adhiniyam 2023. She also warned the government over delimitation and said it would have to face consequences if the representation of southern and north-eastern states in the Lok Sabha are reduced.

However, the PM had sought to allay such concerns while speaking in parliament. He had given a personal guarantee that no injustice would be done to any southern state once the seats in Lok Sabha go up to 816 from 543. “Let all of us not miss this important opportunity to give reservations to women. I have come to appeal to you – do not see this from a political lens, this is in national interest,” PM Modi said.

The southern states’ current representation would be preserved or even increase slightly, Union Home Minister Amit Shah had also assured parliament. The two leaders also accused the Congress and other opposition parties of manufacturing issues to oppose the Bill and deprive women of reservations.

Leading the Opposition charge, Rahul Gandhi had claimed that the government was using the issue of women’s reservation as a smokescreen in an attempt to redraw the country’s electoral map in its favour.

“I was listening to the speeches of the Home Minister and the Prime Minister. On several occasions, both said that if you do not agree with this, you will never sit here, never come to power, and never win. That made their intent very clear. The session was called suddenly, with the draft shared just a day before, leaving no time to review. It seemed like a plan to stay in power,” Priyanka Gandhi said.

“Through delimitation based on the 2011 Census and using women’s reservation, they aimed to redraw constituencies to their advantage. If it passed, they would proceed; if not, they would label others as anti-women and project themselves as champions. But becoming a true champion of women is not easy, it requires action. There is a history to it, and the Congress party has that history,” Priyanka added.

The government had called a three-day special sitting of the Parliament from April 16 to 18. On day one of the session, three bills — Constitution (131st Amendment) Bill, Delimitation Bill, 2026, and the Union Territories Laws (Amendment) Bill, 2026 — were tabled which were linked to implementation of women’s reservation. On Friday, the Constitution (131st Amendment) Bill failed to clear the Lok Sabha. The bill required a two-third majority of 352 votes, but it received 298 votes in its favour, while 230 MPs voted against it.

Slamming the opposition, Union Minister Kiren Rijiju said the Congress and its allies would face the anger of women across the country for blocking the Bill. Speaking to reporters in parliament complex, he said it was a black stain on the Congress and its allies – one that they will never be able to erase.” “This Bill was about giving historic representation to women. What objection could there have been?” he asked.

“If Rahul Gandhi says that giving reservation to women is unconstitutional and undemocratic then someone should make Rahul Gandhi understand that how it can be undemocratic to give rights to women. I can’t reply on what kind of thinking he has,” Rijiju, who is also the Minority Affairs Minister, said.

Rijiju also countered opposition’s charge over delimitation and said Union Home Minister Amit Shah has already made it clear that no state would lose their representation in the Lok Sabha. For this, an amendment was needed as population has also increased in the country, he noted.

The union minister said Congress understands why delimitation was linked to women’s reservation bill, but was acting deliberately to stop it. He claimed many Congress leaders told him that they were forced to oppose this bill because of Rahul Gandhi, who is the Leader of Opposition in Lok Sabha. Rijiju said Congress does not want women to have a larger representation in the lower House.

“The Home Minister, Amit Shah, was ready to give this in writing that but they were not… Let us not go into the trap that the Congress is trying to lay after defeating the bill. The Congress should not create further drama, they will be further exposed. There is no need to create a drama, they are exposed,” the BJP leader, who is an MP from Arunachal Pradesh, said at the media briefing.

Meanwhile, in a post on X (formerly Twitter) on Saturday, Shiv Sena (UBT)’s former Rajya Sabha MP Priyanka Chaturvedi said the government must reserve 180 of the current 543 seats in Lok Sabha for women for the next general elections which will be held in 2029. Providing an option B, Chaturvedi said the government could also delink women’s reservation from census and delimitation.

“My question to BJP: Since you claim to champion nari shakti and its implementation in 2029, will you’ll voluntarily identify 180 seats of the 543 and reserve it for women as a political party in the next election cycle? Will you ask your alliance partners to do so too?” she said. “OR OPTION B: Will you go back to the 106th Constitution Amendment and delink census /delimitation mandate via a new amendment in the monsoon session and bring the act into force from the next election cycle? If answer to all of the above is no, then might as well drop the pretence.”

Other opposition leaders, including Congress MPs Priyanka Gandhi Vadra and KC Venugopal, have echoed a similar opinion. The opposition had alleged that the government’s move on delimitation under the guise of women’s reservation was aimed at suppressing southern and north-eastern states. Though it had repeatedly stated that it was not against women’s reservation and it should be done on the current strength of 543 seats in the lower House.

“The opposition will write to PM Modi demanding the implementation of the old Women’s Reservation Bill. Parties in the INDIA alliance will hold press conferences across the country to state that they support women’s reservation, but the ‘government was trying to change the political map of the country under its guise’,” opposition leaders said.

Various BJP leaders and workers, including Delhi CM Rekha Gupta, Union Minister Raksha Khadse, Delhi BJP President Virendra Sachdeva among others staged a protest march and raised slogans against Rahul Gandhi.  During the protest, BJP MP Bansuri Swaraj said, “From their statements, it has become clear that the opposition to the bill yesterday was merely a political tactic. This shows that for Rahul Gandhi and his colleagues, and for the entire INDIA alliance, women are seen only as a vote bank. They want women’s role to be limited only to voting. But when it came to sharing power, they stepped back.”