New Delhi, Apr 18: Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday warned the Congress and its allies that the women of India will severely punish them for “the sin of foeticide” after they killed a bill on women’s reservation in Parliament and state assemblies.
In an address to the nation, Modi apologised to the women, and said the government may have lost the vote but it will never give up its efforts to empower women.
“We may not have got the necessary 66 per cent votes for the passage of the bill yesterday, but we have got 100 per cent blessings of ‘Nari Shakti’,” Modi said in an address to the nation, a day after a bill to implement 33 per cent women’s reservation in legislatures in 2029 was defeated in the Lok Sabha.
He said the opposition parties have “mercilessly crushed” the dream of women by not allowing the bill to pass in Parliament despite the government’s best efforts.
“I seek forgiveness from all women of the country,” he said, while asserting that his government will remove all obstacles in the way of implementing women’s reservation and for their empowerment.
Modi, in his 30-minute speech, alleged that the “self-serving politics” of parties like the Congress, DMK, TMC and the Samajwadi Party has come at the expense of the nation’s women.
The prime minister said the opposition parties, which have opposed the Nari Shakti Vandan Amendment in Parliament, are taking women 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 India’s women saw how parties like Congress, TMC and DMK celebrated their selfish politics against the country’s women power.”They have been unmasked,” he claimed.
“The Congress and its allies have committed foeticide of the honest effort in front of the entire country in the House. Parties like the Congress, DMK, TMC and the SP are guilty of this foeticide.
“They are criminals against the country’s Constitution, criminals against the country’s feminine power. The Congress hates the issue of women’s reservation itself,” he alleged.
The Prime Minister said the Congress has often fuelled divisive narratives in the country and has spread the claim that delimitation would harm certain states.
However, he said, the government made it clear from the very beginning that no state’s share would be reduced and that the seats would increase proportionately.
“Even then, Congress, along with the DMK, TMC and the SP, refused to accept this,” he said.
Modi said the Congress has always spread falsehoods about necessary reforms and delayed every such decision while it ruled. “Every single challenge our country faces today is due to the negative approach of the Congress party over the years. Women of our country will give a befitting reply to Congress and its allies,” he said.
The Prime Minister said a key reason behind the opposition to the Nari Shakti Vandan Adhinyam is the fear among dynasty-driven parties that if women are truly empowered, their leadership structures could be challenged.
He said they do not want women outside their own families to rise and lead.
Modi said the DMK had the opportunity to enable more people from Tamil Nadu to become Members of Parliament and strengthen the state’s voice, but it let that opportunity slip.
He said the TMC too had the chance to empower more people from West Bengal and elevate their representation, but it also failed to seize it.
“The Nari Shakti Vandan Amendment is the need of the hour. It was an effort to ensure balanced empowerment across all regions, including north, south, east and west.
“It aimed to strengthen the voice of every state in Parliament, whether big or small, by increasing representation proportionately. But this sincere effort was crushed by Congress and its allies,” he said.
The Prime Minister said the opposition parties are forgetting that the women of the 21st century are keeping an eye on every event in the country, they are sensing the intentions of the opposition and are fully aware of the truth as well.
Therefore, he said, the “sin” that the opposition has committed by opposing women’s reservation will surely earn them punishment.
“A woman forgets everything, but she never forgets her insult. Therefore, the bitterness of the behaviour of Congress and its allies in Parliament will always remain in the heart of every woman. Those parties that opposed the Nari Shakti Vandan Adhiniyam in Parliament are taking women power for granted,” he said.
Modi said the “family-based” parties like the Congress, DMK, TMC, and the SP were “clapping gleefully” and were thumping their desks after snatching away women’s rights.
“What they did was not just a thump on the table; it was a blow to the dignity of women, to her self-respect,” he said.
The Prime Minister said the Congress has lost its base in most parts of the country and is surviving by riding on the support of regional parties, yet it does not want these regional forces to grow stronger.
“By opposing this amendment, the Congress has attempted to push the future of many regional parties into uncertainty through political manoeuvring,” he said, adding, “I want to tell all parties who oppose this bill in clear terms that they are taking women’s power for granted”.
Modi said this amendment, pending for 40 years, was about giving them that right starting from the 2029 Lok Sabha elections.
“The bill was a grand ‘yajna’ to provide new opportunities to the women of 21st-century India, to give her new wings, and to remove the obstacles in her path.
“It was a sacred festival performed with pure intent and honesty to grant rights to the country’s 50 per cent– that is, half the population,” he said.
The Prime Minister said by opposing this bill, the Congress has shown itself to be an “anti-reform party”. This is the same Congress that opposed Pradhan Mantri Jan Dhan Yojana, Aadhaar, and digital payments as well as the Goods and Services Tax, he said.
“The Congress opposed reservation for economically weaker sections, the abrogation of Article 370, and the abolition of Triple Talaq. It continues to oppose the Uniform Civil Code,” he said.
Modi said this is not just a fight over one law, but a larger battle against the Congress’s “anti-reform mindset, driven by negativity”.
“I have no doubt that the daughters of this country will give a strong answer to this thinking.
“I said in Parliament, give half the population their rightful share, and I would credit the opposition for it. Yet those who view women through a regressive lens remained stuck in their position and refused to move beyond it,” he said.
The Prime Minister said he knows that the “mothers, sisters, daughters of the country are grieving today”.
“I too am grieving with you. But our effort will not stop, our effort will not falter, our inner strength is invincible. More opportunities will come our way. We must fulfil this resolve for the dreams of half of the population, for the future of the country,” he said. (PTI)
