"Congress, its allies are continuously lying on delimitation...": PM Modi in Address to Nation

New Delhi [India], April 18 : Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday accused the Congress and its allies of lying on the Delimitation Bill which was among the legislations brought in Lok Sabha to tweak women's reservation and said the government had made it clear that neither the proportion of a state's representation will change nor will anyone's representation become less.

In his Address to the Nation a day after the Constitution Amendment Bill was defeated in the Lok Sabha, PM Modi alleged that Congress has "learned the politics of divide and rule from the British as its heritage" and is functioning on the same idea even today.

He accused the opposition parties of spreading misinformation that delimitation would cause a loss to a few states.

"Congress and its allies are continuously lying over delimitation. They want to fan the flames of division under this pretext. Congress has learned the politics of divide and rule from the British as its heritage. Even today, Congress is functioning on the same. Congress has always fanned the sentiments which create fractures within the country," he said.

"So, misinformation was spread that delimitation would cause a loss to a few states. But the Govt has made it clear from the first day itself that neither the proportion of a state's representation will change nor will anyone's representation be lower. Seats of all states will be increased in an equal proportion. Still, Congress, DMK, TMC, SP and other parties are not ready to accept this," he added.

PM Modi alleged that Congress "hates the topic of women's reservation and has always conspired to stop this".

"Whenever efforts were made in this direction, Congress always put obstacles. This time as well, Congress and its allies used one or the other lies to stop this... They tried to mislead the nation," he said.

The Prime Minister said the Nari Shakti Vandan Amendment is the need of the hour.

"These parties also insulted the sentiments of the framers of the Constitution, and they will not be spared by the people's punishment for this. The Nari Shakti Vandan Amendment was not about taking anything away from anyone, but about giving something to everyone," he said

"It was about giving women the rights that had been pending for 40 years, in the next elections in 2029... It was a 'Maha Yagya' to remove obstacles from their path," he added.

He alleged that "Congress and its allies have committed feticide of this endeavour in the Parliament in front of everyone".

"Parties like Congress, TMC, Samajwadi Party and DMK are responsible for this... They are the culprits of 'Nari Shakti' of the nation," he alleged.

The Prime Minister said "there is a big reason behind the opposition to Nari Shakti Vandan Adhiniyam - the fear of these dynastic parties".

"They are scared that if women get empowered, the leadership of these dynastic parties will be threatened. They would never want women outside their families to go ahead," he said

"I will say clearly to those parties who opposed the Nari Shakti Vandan Amendment in Parliament yesterday: These people are taking women's power for granted. They are forgetting that women of the twenty-first century are closely monitoring every event in the country. They understand their intentions and are fully aware of the truth. Therefore, the opposition will surely be punished for the sin they have committed by opposing women's reservation," he added.

PM Modi said he had hopes that the Congress would rectify its decades-old mistake, that it would atone for its sins.

"But Congress lost the opportunity to script history and stand in support of women. Congress has lost its existence in most of the regions of the country. Like a parasite, Congress piggyrides regional parties and keeps itself alive. But Congress does not even want regional parties to grow stronger. So, it hatched the political conspiracy of pushing the future of several regional parties into darkness by making them oppose this amendment."

The Prime Minister said he was deeply saddened to see that when the proposal for women's welfare was defeated, "dynastic parties like the Congress, DMK, TMC, and Samajwadi Party were clapping with joy".

"These people were thumping the table after snatching away women's rights... This was an attack on women's self-respect and self-esteem. And women forget everything, but they never forget their own insults. Therefore, the pain of the behavior of the Congress and its allies in Parliament will always remain in every woman's heart," he said.

"Whenever women across the country see these leaders in their constituencies, they will remember that these same people celebrated and rejoiced when women's reservation was blocked in Parliament. The country's 'Nari Shakti' had to bear the burden of the selfish politics of parties like Congress, DMK, TMC and Samajwadi Party," he added.

PM Modi said crores of women across the country had their eyes on Parliament yesterday and noted that while naiton's interest is paramount for BJP-led NDA, for some people party interest becomes everything.

"Today I'm here to discuss an important issue, especially for the women of this country. Every citizen of this country is witnessing how women's progress has stalled... Despite our best efforts, we haven't succeeded. Amendments could not be made in the Nari Shakti Adhiniyam. And I apologise to all the mothers and in the nation for this," he said.

"For us, the nation's interest is paramount. But when for some people party interest becomes everything, when party interest overshadows the nation's interest, then women's power, the nation's interest... has to bear the consequences. This is exactly what has happened this time too," he added.

Opposition parties in Lok Sabha voted against the Constitution Amendment Bill on Friday.

The Lok Sabha took up Constitution (One Hundred and Thirty-first Amendment) Bill, Delimitation Bill, and Union Territories Laws (Amendment) Bill together for passing.In the division that took place on the Constitution Amendment Bill following the debate on the three bills, 298 members voted in favour and 230 against.

With Constitution Amendment Bill defeated, the government later said it did not want to pursue the two other linked bills.

The bills aimed to take the strength of Lok Sabha from 543 to 816 with 33 per cent reservation for women. The delimitation was to be carried out based on the 2011 census. The government said there will be proportionate increase in seats for all states.

Opposition parties said that they are strongly in favour of women's reservation but were strongly against the Delimitation Bill. They asked the government to implement the women's reservation in the existing strength of Lok Sabha on the basis of Women's Reservation Act enacted in 2023.

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