Day after the Modi government's first legislative failure since 2014 after the women's reservation bill failed to clear the Lok Sabha test, the government on Saturday hit back at the opposition, especially the Congress, saying what happened on Friday showed the anti-women mentality of the grand old party. Leading the charge for the government was Union Parliamentary Affairs Minister Kiren Rijiju, who said the opposition will be 'punished democratically' for this.
Speaking at a press briefing in New Delhi after the conclusion of Parliament's three-day special sitting, Rijiju said the government is surely disappointed over the bill's failure in the Lok Sabha but asserted that it was neither the failure of the Centre and nor the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). He said it is a 'black day' for everyone and the way Congress has been celebrating is shameful and condemnable.
Although Rijiju said that the Parliament session was extremely successful, as he thanked Prime Minister Narendra Modi for the government's efforts to empower the women.
"If Rahul Gandhi says that giving reservation to women is unconstitutional and undemocratic then someone should make Rahul Gandhi understand that how it can be undemocratic to give rights to women. I can't reply on what kind of thinking he has," Rijiju, who is also the Minority Affairs Minister, said.
Rijiju, who was addressing a press conference shortly after Congress MP Priyanka Gandhi Vadra's press briefing, also countered opposition's charge over delimitation and said Union Home Minister Amit Shah has already made it clear that no state will lose their representation in the Lok Sabha. For this, an amendment was needed as population has also increased in the country, he noted.
The union minister said Congress understands why delimitation was linked to women's reservation bill, but is acting deliberately to stop it. He claimed many Congress leaders told him that they were forced to oppose this bill because of Rahul Gandhi, who is the Leader of Opposition in Lok Sabha. Rijiju said Congress does not want women to have a larger representation in the lower House.
"The Home Minister, Amit Shah, was ready to give this in writing that but they were not... Let us not go into the trap that the Congress is trying to lay after defeating the bill. The Congress should not create further drama, they will be further exposed. There is no need to create a drama, they are exposed," the BJP leader, who is an MP from Arunachal Pradesh, said at the media briefing.
A three-day special sitting of the Parliament was called by the government from April 16 to 18. The government tabled three bills in this session which were Constitution (131st Amendment) Bill, Delimitation Bill, 2026, and the Union Territories Laws (Amendment) Bill, 2026. It said the bills were essential for the implementation of women's reservation. However, the Constitution (131st Amendment) Bill failed to clear the Lok Sabha on Friday, as it required a two-third majority of 352 votes, but only received 298 votes in its favour, while 230 MPs voted against it.
