Kharge criticizes the PM’s speech to the country

Amid the loss of the women’s reservation bill, PM Narendra Modi’s speech sparks a political firestorm in which Manish Tewari, Jairam Ramesh, and Mallikarjun Kharge accuse him of misinformation, partisan assaults, and targeting opposition parties.

Modi in his 30-minute speech on Saturday, charged that the opposition was obstructing women’s reform for political motives. He said that the opposition was “foeticide” and “taking women for granted.”

Referring to the country, Modi claimed that the bill’s failure in Parliament had “insulted the women of India” and that parties like the Congress, DMK, TMC, and Samajwadi Party were “happy and celebrating.” He cautioned that ladies would not overlook this. He claimed that after denying women’s rights, “dynastic parties were laughing.”

Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge accused Prime Minister address to the nation as “political speech, full of mudslinging, and outright lies”

“A desperate and frustrated PM [Narendra Modi] with nothing meaningful to show for the last 12 years, turned an official address to the nation into a political speech, full of mudslinging, and outright LIES,” Kharge wrote on X.

Kharge strongly criticised PM address, he said, “Modi ji mentioned Congress 59 times and women barely few times. That tells the country everything about his priorities. Women are not the BJP’s priority. Congress is.”

Citing the release of prisoners in the Bilkis Bano case, Kharge asserted that the party has shielded those found guilty of sexual misdeeds and charged its officials with publicly supporting such individuals.

Kharge said, “They have garlanded rapists and criminals.”

“The Prime Minister had nothing to offer the country except a political speech after 12 and a half years in power,” he continued.

The PM was accused of deceiving the people by other opposition parties, who also rejected his claims. Derek O’Brien, a senior member of the Trinamool Congress, claimed that using women as a “decoy” to advance the delimitation law was the “worst form of insulting women.”

What the Bill aimed to accomplish

The necessary two-thirds majority in the Lok Sabha was not granted to the Constitution (131st Amendment) Bill, 2026. The plan proposed expanding the House from 543 to 850 seats to allow for a 33% reserve for women by the 2029 elections.The administration received 298 votes in favor, but it was rejected by a unified opposition of 230 MPs.

Delimitation and census-associated procedures were necessary prior to the bill’s adoption, which was linked to the Women’s Reservation Act, which was passed in 2023.

Congressmen claimed the bill was politically misconstrued and used to target opposition parties, despite the government’s insistence that it was a historic step for empowering women.

The women’s reservation issue has now developed into a major political conflict between the BJP and Congress, with Kharge, Ramesh, and Tewari in the forefront.