‘Partisan’, ‘dramebaazi’: How Opposition reacted to PM Narendra Modi's address to nation on women's quota bill

SEveral oppositeness leaders come to come out at ground government minister Narendra Modi’s characterisation of the whole bloc as “anti-women”, with Congress’s Jairam Ramesh calling his address to the nation “partisan”.Ramesh, who is also the Congress communication in-charge, said that a sitting Prime Minister’s address to the nation has a sanctity to it and is meant to be a non-partisan address intended to build national resolve and confidence. “This pathetic partisan and polemical attack – a Distress Address rather than a National Address - would have been more appropriate in a Press Conference. But as unhinged as he is by the extraordinary legislative humiliation he suffered in the Lok Sabha last night, the non-grihasthi Prime Minister is still too much of a coward to face the media,” Ramesh wrote on X.The Congress leader said that the PM has apologised for the failure of the constitutional amendment, though he should have apologised for “his shameless, deceitful attempts to push through a devious delimitation proposal in the name of women”.“His niyat is anything but saaf. It is poisonous. If one were to investigate his niyat, one only has to ask why the Nari Shakti Vandan Adhiniyam, 2023, passed unanimously way back in Sept 2023, was notified only late at night on April 16 2026, after a delay of 30 months. His talking of mahila samman is sheer hypocrisy given the way he has conducted himself throughout his life,” he added. Not just Ramesh, though, TMC MP Mahua Moitra also attacked the Prime Minister for his address to the nation, calling it “dramebaazi”.“Hello @narendramodi - Your dramebaazi & your Godi media script will not hide the truth- women’s reservation already passed in 2023 & notified 2 days ago. NOTHING stops you from implementing it now & giving 1/3 of 543 seats to women the way TMC has done,” Moitra wrote on X. Her party colleague Derek O'Brien said the Narendra Modi government was using women as a “decoy” to pass the delimitation bill.“Narendra, the worst form of insulting women is to have used them as a DECOY* to try and pass the Delimitation Bill. *Decoy (noun): a thing or a person that is used to trick somebody into doing what you want them to do,” he said in a social media post. What PM Modi saidPrime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday said opposition parties had "mercilessly crushed" the dreams of women by not allowing the women's reservation bill to pass in Parliament despite the government's best efforts.In an address to the nation, a day after a bill to implement women's reservation in legislatures was defeated in the Lok Sabha, Modi said the self-serving politics of parties like the Congress, the DMK, the TMC, and the Samajwadi Party has come at the expense of the nation's women, and that they had foiled efforts to grant 33 per cent reservation to women in legislatures."I seek forgiveness from all women of the country," he said.The prime minister said opposition parties that opposed the Nari Shakti Vandan Adhiniyam in Parliament were taking women's power for granted."Today, every citizen of India is witnessing how the march of India's women has been halted. The dreams of the country's women have been mercilessly crushed, and despite our utmost efforts, we could not succeed," he said.Modi said women had seen how parties like the Congress, the TMC and the DMK "celebrated their selfish politics" against women's empowerment."The opposition has committed a sin by opposing women's reservation, and they will surely be punished for this. Opposition parties have insulted our Constitution by defeating the bill," he said.The prime minister said the bill was aimed at giving wings to women's empowerment without taking anything away from anyone."I expected the Congress to correct its past mistakes, but it missed an opportunity to script new history. The family-run parties do not want women to move forward as that could end their selfish politics," he said.He also accused the Congress of pursuing divisive politics, alleging it spread falsehoods about a North-South divide"A woman forgets everything, but not her insult; this insult by the Congress and its allies will always remain in every woman's heart," he said.Modi said the amendment to the Nari Shakti Vandan Adhiniyam was the need of the hour and an honest effort to ensure balanced empowerment across north, south, east and west."Congress has always opposed all attempts for nation-building, betterment of our country," he said.