A day after Prime Minister Narendra Modi accused Opposition parties, in a nationally televised address, of having “committed bhrun-hatya (foeticide)” by blocking the Constitution (131st Amendment) Bill, 2026, West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee hit back, saying Modi “chose to mislead the nation”.
She also urged Modi to address the nation from Parliament instead of Doordarshan, saying his televised remarks were “cowardly, hypocritical and fork-tongued”.
The Constitution (131st Amendment) Bill, 2026, which sought to advance reservation of seats for women in an expanded Lok Sabha and state Assemblies, and facilitate delimitation of constituencies, was blocked by a united Opposition last week.
Taking to X on Sunday, Banerjee posted: “It is deeply unfortunate that the Prime Minister chose to mislead the nation rather than address it honestly.”
She wrote: “Let me put this on record. Trinamool Congress has always championed higher political representation for women. We have the highest proportion of female elected representatives in both Parliament and the State Legislature. In the Lok Sabha, 37.9% of our elected members are women. In the Rajya Sabha, we have nominated 46% women members. The question of opposing Women’s Reservation does not arise and never has.”
She said what the Opposition is “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”.
It is deeply unfortunate that the Prime Minister chose to mislead the nation rather than address it honestly.
Let me put this on record. Trinamool Congress has always championed higher political representation for women. We have the highest proportion of female elected…
— Mamata Banerjee (@MamataOfficial) April 19, 2026
“What we are fundamentally opposed to is the altering of Babasaheb Ambedkar’s Constitution, the division of this nation and the usurpation of power through gerrymandering — by redrawing political contours to hand greater representation to BJP-ruled states at the expense of others. This is an assault on federal democracy. And we will not watch it happen in silence,” Banerjee wrote.
“If this government was genuinely serious about this noble cause, why did it wait nearly three years after the passage of the Women’s Reservation Bill on September 28, 2023? Why rush it through when several states are in election? And why couple it with Delimitation?” she posted.
Asserting that her party TMC has always stood for women, Banerjee wrote, “But we will not be lectured on a subject that the ruling dispensation neither understands nor respects.”
She also urged the Prime Minister to address the nation from the floor of Parliament. “And Mr. Prime Minister, the next time you address the nation, have the courage to do so from the Floor of Parliament, where you are subject to scrutiny, challenge and accountability. What you did yesterday was cowardly, hypocritical and fork-tongued. You can feel power slipping through your fingers. And you are prepared to go to any extent to hold on for just a little while longer,” she posted.
In separate remarks delivered at a public meeting in Tarakeshwar in Hooghly district, Banerjee said, “Day before yesterday’s defeat in Parliament has marked the beginning of the downfall of PM Modi. Despite being a minority government, look at their arrogance. Yesterday, Doordarshan was used for political campaigning. We will lodge a complaint and we condemn it in the strongest possible words.”