West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee sharply criticized Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday in response to his recent comments regarding the opposition’s role in the failure of the women’s reservation Bill. In a detailed social media post, Banerjee accused Modi of misleading the public instead of addressing the issues head-on and highlighted her party, the All India Trinamool Congress (TMC), for its longstanding support of women’s political representation.
“It is deeply unfortunate that the Prime Minister chose to mislead the nation rather than address it honestly,” Banerjee stated, emphasizing that the TMC boasts one of the highest percentages of women representatives in Parliament and the state legislature. She further asserted, “The question of opposing women’s reservation does not arise and never has.”
However, Banerjee clarified that her party opposes the proposed delimitation exercise, alleging that the central government aims to use women’s reservation as a pretext for political gain. “What we are fundamentally opposed to is the delimitation exercise that the Modi government was plotting to push through by using women as a shield for its vested political agenda,” she wrote, calling such tactics an “assault on federal democracy” and stressing that her party would not remain silent.
In addition, Banerjee questioned the timing of the bill’s implementation, asking why the government delayed action after its passage in September 2023 and linking it to delimitation. She also criticized Modi for not addressing Parliament directly. “The next time you address the nation, have the courage to do so from the floor of Parliament,” she said, branding his remarks as “cowardly, hypocritical, and fork-tongued.”
Her response followed Modi’s address to the nation on Saturday night, in which he attributed the blockage of the bill to opposition parties. “For us, national interest comes first. But for some people, when party interest becomes everything, then women’s empowerment and the nation’s interest suffer,” he stated, claiming that the “selfish politics of parties like Congress, DMK, TMC, and SP has cost the women of this country.”
