Mamta Banerjee (file photo)

New Delhi: West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Sunday reacted sharply to Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s criticism of opposition parties, including TMC, over the failure of the Women’s Reservation Bill.In a long message shared on social media, he accused the Prime Minister of misleading the country instead of directly addressing the concerns. He also defended his party All India Trinamool CongressStating that it has consistently supported women’s political representation.He wrote, “It is extremely unfortunate that the Prime Minister chose to mislead the nation instead of addressing it honestly.” He further said that Parliament and state legislatures have the highest proportion of women representatives. He said, “The question of opposing women’s reservation does not arise and has never arisen.”However, Mamata made it clear that her party opposes the proposed delimitation process and alleged that the Center is trying to push it by using women’s reservation for political gains. “We are fundamentally protesting against the delimitation process which the Modi government is conspiring to push forward by using women as a shield for its vested political agenda,” he wrote.Claiming that such steps would change the Constitution, he said, “This is an attack on federal democracy. And we will not watch it happen quietly.” Questioning the timing of the bill, the West Bengal CM asked why the government delayed implementing the bill after it was passed in September 2023 and why it was being linked to delimitation. He also criticized the Prime Minister for not addressing Parliament directly. “Next time you address the nation, have the courage to do so from the floor of Parliament,” he wrote, calling his comments “cowardly, hypocritical and double-spoken.”He said, “What you did yesterday was cowardly, hypocritical and cowardly. You can feel power slipping through your fingers. And you are ready to go to any extent to hold on to power for a short period of time.”His reaction came after PM Modi, in his address to the nation on Saturday night, accused opposition parties of blocking the bill. “For us, national interest comes first. But for some people, when party interest becomes everything, women empowerment and national interest suffers,” she said. “The women of this country have had to pay the price for the selfish politics of parties like Congress, DMK, TMC and SP,” she said.