PM Narendra Modi urged political parties to ensure 33% reservation for women in the Lok Sabha and state assemblies “as swiftly as possible”’
Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday urged all political parties to come forward to ensure 33% reservation for women in the Lok Sabha and state assemblies “as swiftly as possible”, making a renewed pitch to pass the Constitution amendment bill to roll out the women’s quota in 2029 Lok Sabha election.
Addressing the nation from the ramparts of the Red Fort, PM Modi said, “My dear fellow citizens, today in panchayats, municipalities and municipal corporations, our women public representatives are guiding the nation in very large numbers, solving local challenges and providing exceptionally capable and empowering leadership. Keeping this in mind, we passed the Nari Shakti Vandan Adhiniyam in Parliament. But for one reason or another, in the political arena over the last 40 years, this dream had persistently fallen victim to political games and political battlegrounds.”
“Today, from the ramparts of the Red Fort, standing under the shadow of the Tricolor, I earnestly appeal to and urge all political parties of our nation: Come forward and celebrate the strength and capability of our women. Step forward in honour of our women and as swiftly as possible, ensure our mothers and sisters receive 33% representation in the state legislative assemblies and the Lok Sabha so that they can actively contribute to shaping India’s policies,” he added.
Modi renews push for women’s reservation ahead of 2029 polls
To be sure, Parliament had passed the women reservation bill or Nari Shakti Vandan Adhiniyam in 2023, which proposed to roll out women reservation from 2034 on the basis of the ongoing census data.
The government, however, wants to pass a new bill to implement reservation from the 2029 Lok Sabha poll on the basis of 2011 census and it would block 272 seats for women in an expanded Lok Sabha that would constitute of 815 seats. Union law minister Arjun Ram Meghwal had introduced The Constitution (One Hundred and Thirty-First Amendment) Bill for this purpose during a special session in April this year. It fell short of two-third majority of 352, out of the total 528 members present in the Lok Sabha.
Opposition calls Modi’s appeal ‘dishonest claim’
The Opposition, however, remained unimpressed by the PM’s appeal.
Congress general secretary for communication Jairam Ramesh called the PM’s pitch as a dishonest claim.
“The Prime Minister made a dishonest claim regarding women’s reservation in his address from the Red Fort today. He should know that in September 2023, Parliament passed the Nari Shakti Vandan Adhiniyam unanimously—but the Modi government’s double standards and hypocrisy ensured that it could not be implemented until the 2024 elections. This Act was notified in haste and quietly on the evening of April 16, 2026,” he said.
“The Prime Minister should remember that the provision for women’s reservation was introduced into the Constitution through the 73rd and 74th Amendments passed in 1993, and the vision and firm resolve behind realizing it belonged to Shri Rajiv Gandhi. @INCIndia has consistently stood firm on its position to implement women’s reservation within the current number of Lok Sabha seats starting from the 2029 Lok Sabha elections,” Ramesh added.
Congress, SP and TMC question government’s intent
Samajwadi Party president Akhilesh Yadav said the Red Fort is not the place from where one should speak lies, and urged the Centre to implement the Women Reservation Bill in the 2027 UP Assembly elections.
Trinamool Congress lawmaker Sagarika Ghose claimed that the PM is again appealing to the opposition for 33% women’s reservation in Parliament when the law has been passed.