'Foeticide Of An Honest Effort': PM Modi's All-Out Attack On Congress Over Defeat Of Women's Quota Bill

New Delhi: Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday made a hard-hitting attack on Congress and its allies over the defeat of the Constitution Amendment Bill aimed at tweaking women's reservation, saying they have committed "bhrun hatya" of the endeavor in the Parliament and will face punishment from people during elections.

In his Address to the Nation a day after the Constitution Amendment Bill was defeated in the Lok Sabha, the PM accused the opposition parties, including Congress, DMK, Trinamool Congress, and Samajwadi Party, of being scared that if women get empowered, the leadership of these dynastic parties will be threatened.

The Congress and its allies have in Parliament in front of the nation

"Is imandaar prayas ki Congress aur uske sahyogiyon ne Sadan mein poore desh ke saamne bhrun hatya kar di hai. (Congress and its allies have committed feticide of this sincere effort in the Parliament before 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.

PM Modi launched a scathing attack on Congress.

"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, Congress has attempted to push the future of many regional parties into uncertainty through political manoeuvring," he said.

He also accused Congress of opposing every significant reform brought by the Centre.

"By opposing women's reservation, Congress has once again proven that Congress is an anti-reform party. Congress's anti-reform attitude has always caused immense damage to the country. Whatever decisions or reforms are significant for the Viksit Bharat of 21st Century, Congress opposes all of them. They dismiss them," he said.

"This is the history and negative politics of Congress. This is the same Congress, which opposed Jan Dhan, Aadhar, Mobile, Women power. Congress opposed Digital Payments, GST, reservation to the general category people, law against Triple Talaq, revocation of Article 370. The UCC which our constitution and courts validate, they opposed that too," he added.

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 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," he said.

"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," he added.

He 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.

He alleged that opposition parties had spread 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.

He 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. He 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.

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 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 against the Delimitation Bill. They asked the government to implement the women's reservation in the existing strength of Lok Sabha.

The government had convened a three-day special sitting of Parliament from April 16 to get the three bills passed. Opposition parties had also questioned the timing of the decision, saying it came amid assembly elections in Tamil Nadu and West Bengal and was aimed at electoral advantage in these states. 

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