‘Despite our best efforts the dreams of ‘women power’ were shattered;’ PM Modi apologizes to the women of the country – Top Quotes india news
New Delhi: Prime Minister Narendra Modi Saturday said the failure of the Women’s Reservation Bill was a blow to women across the country and apologized for not being able to ensure its passage despite his government’s efforts.The government suffered a major setback in the Lok Sabha on Friday. The Constitution (131st Amendment) Bill, which proposed 33 percent reservation for women in legislatures and increasing the Lok Sabha seats to 816, was defeated. The purpose of the proposal was to increase the Lok Sabha seats from 543 to 816 to implement women’s reservation before the 2029 parliamentary elections, following the delimitation exercise based on the 2011 census. It also planned to expand seats in state and union territory assemblies to accommodate the quota.
Key quotes from the Prime Minister’s address:
- “Today I have come to talk to the mothers, sisters and daughters of the country. Today every citizen of India is seeing how the dreams of India’s women power have been brutally crushed. Despite millions of efforts, we could not succeed. For this, I sincerely apologize to all the mothers and sisters.”
- “For us, national interest comes first. But for some people, when party interest becomes everything, then women empowerment and national interest gets harmed. Same thing has happened this time also. Selfish politics of parties.
Congress DMK, TMC and SP have harmed the women of this country.” - “I was saddened to see that when the bill for women’s welfare fell, parties like Congress and DMK were clapping and thumping the table. What they did was not just noise on the table, it was an attack on the dignity of women.”
- “A woman may forget everything, but never forgets her insult. That pain of their behavior will remain in the heart of every woman. Whenever the women of this country will see these leaders in their constituency, they will remember that these are the same people who celebrated stopping women’s reservation in Parliament.”
- “The Congress and its allies are continuously spreading lies in the country. They are trying to use this as an excuse to stoke the fire of division. ‘Divide and rule’ – this is the politics that the Congress has inherited from the British. Therefore, the false narrative is being spread that some states will suffer because of delimitation. The government has clearly said that seats in all states will increase in equal proportion.”
- “After delimitation, there would have been more seats for women and their representation would have increased. That is why they opposed the Nari Shakti Vandan Amendment. The women of this country will never forgive Congress and its allies for this wrongdoing.”
- “They have also betrayed the people of their state. DMK had a chance, TMC also had a chance to take the people of Bengal forward, but they also wasted it. SP also had a chance to reduce its image of being anti-women, but they have crushed Lohia ji’s dreams by opposing it.”
- “Congress has once again proved that it is an anti-reform party. Whatever decisions are necessary for a developed India in the 21st century, Congress opposes all of them. This has been the history of Congress and it reflects its negative politics.”