Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday issued a public apology to the women of India after the Women’s Reservation Bill was defeated in Parliament, launching a sharp attack on the opposition specifically Congress, TMC, DMK, and the Samajwadi Party accusing them of burying women’s rights through what he termed “petty politics.”
Addressing the nation in a combative tone laced with emotion, Modi condemned the scenes in the Lok Sabha where opposition members reportedly thumped their desks in celebration after the bill failed to pass.
“I seek forgiveness from all women of the country for failing to get the bill passed. Due to the selfish politics of parties like Congress, DMK, TMC and the Samajwadi Party, the women of the country have suffered,” the Prime Minister said.
The Constitution (131st Amendment) Bill which sought to increase Lok Sabha seats to fast-track the implementation of women’s reservation in Parliament was voted down on Friday. It marked the first major legislative defeat for the Modi government since it came to power in 2014.
Modi warned the opposition that women neither forget nor forgive insults easily. “What happened in Parliament was not just desk thumping, but an attack on the dignity and self-respect of women. The conduct of the Congress and its allies in Parliament will remain in the minds of women across the country,” he said.
The timing of his remarks is politically significant Bengal and Tamil Nadu, the home states of TMC and DMK respectively, are headed to polls next week.
The opposition, for its part, had accused the government of using the women’s reservation push as cover for a larger delimitation exercise that could redraw the electoral map to benefit the BJP. They also raised concerns that the proposed changes would reduce the representation of southern states in the Lok Sabha.