PM Modi’s Speech Today LIVE Updates: Prime Minister Narendra Modi will address the nation tonight.
“The Prime Minister will address the nation at 20:30 (April 18, Saturday),” an official said earlier in the day.
His speech comes a day after the Women’s Reservation Act – the Constitution (131st Amendment) Act – failed to pass the Lok Sabha in the legislatures.
What happened so far?
— The bill needed a two-thirds majority in the Lok Sabha, which is approximately 360 votes, to be passed in the lower house of Parliament. However, only 298 MPs voted for the bill and 230 MPs voted against it.
– Taking a dig at the opposition, PM Modi said his government’s women’s reservation bill was a noble effort that had “derailed” because of the DMK and the Congress, which made it a “target of hatred and petty politics”.
— Referring to how the bill failed to get the required number of votes, Congress MP Priyanka Gandhi Vadra said the BJP government has lost public trust. “It’s a black day for them (the Centre) because for the first time they felt the shock they deserved,” she said.
— On Saturday, the Delhi Police detained several BJP women MPs protesting against the failure of the bill. Among those arrested were Raksha Khadse, Bansuri Swaraj and Kamaljeet Sehrawat.
What did the bill propose?
According to the Constitution (131st Amendment) Act, the seats in the Lok Sabha were to be increased to 816 from the current 543 to “operationalise” the Women’s Reservation Act before the 2029 parliamentary elections, following the census-based delimitation exercise in 2011. The number of seats in the state and UT assemblies was also to be increased to accommodate 33 per cent reservation for women.
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