New Delhi
Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday slammed the opposition parties for defeat of the Constitution Amendment Bill in Lok Sabha to tweak women's reservation and apologised to the "mothers and sisters" in the country saying "Women's Power Bill could not pass in Parliament".
In Address to the Nation, PM Modi said crores of women across the country had their eyes on Parliament yesterday and noted that while naiton's interest in paramount for BJP-led NDA, for some people self-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 sisters 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.
He alleged that the "self-serving politics of parties like Congress, DMK, TMC, and the Samajwadi Party" has come at the expense of the nation's women.
PM Modi said woman forgets everything, but never forgets her insult.
"Yesterday, crores of women across the country had their eyes on Parliament. It was deeply painful to see that when this proposal in the interest of women was defeated, parties like Congress, DMK, SP, and TMC were applauding. By taking away women's rights, they were thumping their desks. Those were not just thumps on the desk, they were blows to the dignity and self-respect of women," he said.
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 called upon the government to implement the women's reservation in the existing strength of Lok Sabha.
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