Fireworks over Bill defeat: Priyanka hails ‘win for democracy’; Govt calls Congress ‘anti-women’

Addressing a press conference at the Congress headquarters, Priyanka said it was a “black day” for the government, which saw a Bill defeated in Parliament for the first time. “The Modi government has received its first jolt and is therefore calling it a ‘black day’. This jolt was very necessary,” she said.

The BJP hit back, alleging that the Congress does not have faith in the country’s women, constitutional framework and Parliament.

Slamming the Congress, Parliamentary Affairs Minister Kiren Rijiju said, “If the Congress is celebrating the non-provision of the right that belongs to the women of the country, nothing can be more sad than this.”

He said, “They did not give due rights to women, reserving place for them in the country’s legislatures through such a historic and significant Bill. And if they are celebrating it, along with some others, then I believe that the women of the nation will never forgive the Congress and Opposition parties.”

On her part, Priyanka stressed that the Opposition is very clear it will support the 2023 Women’s Reservation Act. “We are very clear—we will say this very clearly. Bring that 2023 legislation and make any change you want, and we will support,” she said.

“What happened yesterday was a big win for democracy… This was a win for the Constitution, the country and the unity of the Opposition. It showed on the faces of the ruling party leaders,” the Congress general secretary said.

She alleged that the speeches made by Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Union Home Minister Amit Shah in the Lok Sabha made it clear that the 2026 Bills were a “conspiracy” to retain power forever.

“The whole conspiracy was to retain power and if they would not do it immediately, they would do it till 2029 – the delimitation. The plan was to keep power forever. They used women and their reservation as a decoy,” Priyanka alleged.

“They thought that if the Bills are passed, they will do delimitation as per their wishes. If not, they will defame the Opposition. They thought they would become the women’s messiah, but it is not easy to become the women’s messiah,” the Congress leader said. “Women have seen the BJP’s history – We saw in Unnao, Hathras, and in the case of women wrestlers in the streets of Delhi.”

Priyanka also charged that the government wanted to carry out delimitation without taking into account the caste census data. “The women are watching everything – the PR and media baazi. If you want to do something solid, then implement the women’s reservation Bill passed in 2023,” she said.

“The people of the country are very intelligent. If they (BJP) want to do a programme across the country, they can. Whatever has happened in the last two-three days, it shows that they don’t understand people. Their PR isn’t working. The people’s confidence is going,” she claimed.

Referring to India’s trade deal with the US, Priyanka said: “Things have changed for this government. They are under international pressure. Like my brother (Rahul Gandhi) said, no PM would sign the deal with the US in its current form.”

Asked if delimitation was the “need of the hour”, she said: “No, I don’t think so. That is how it is being sold… A complete overhaul of Parliament, and that too, in the hands of people who tend to have disregard for institutions, who tend to weaken every institution, including the Election Commission.” Leader of the Opposition (LoP) in the Lok Sabha, Rahul Gandhi, took the issue to Tamil Nadu Saturday as he hit the campaign trail in the southern state scheduled for April 23 Assembly polls.

Raking it up at an election rally in Ranipet, Rahul said: “Yesterday, you might have seen what Narendra Modi and Amit Shah were trying to do in Parliament. They told the nation a lie. They said they were trying to pass a Bill for women’s representation. But hidden behind that Bill was a diabolical idea. They were trying to change the electoral map of India. They wanted to change the number of seats each state gets. They wanted to weaken South Indian states, Northeastern states and other smaller states. The Prime Minister is attacking our Constitution.”

The BJP slammed the Opposition parties for what it alleged was an “utter insult to Nari Shakti” within Parliament, training its guns on Priyanka.

“I am stunned that in the Congress press conference it was said that they support the Bill passed in 2023, which mentions delimitation. But look at its duplicity – they also say that they don’t have faith in the Delimitation Commission and its system,” BJP leader and ex-Union minister Smriti Irani said at a press conference.

“Congress doesn’t have faith in the country’s constitutional framework, Parliament, and the country’s women either…it has exposed its cruel face to the people of the country,” she added.

Targeting Priyanka, senior BJP leader Ravi Shankar Prasad said a woman Congress MP, who “comes from that premier family”, was using “unbecoming language”.