Prime Minister Narendra Modi is set to address the nation at 8:30 pm on Saturday, a day after the crucial Constitution Amendment Bill on women’s reservation was defeated in Parliament.
The subject of the address, however, has not been officially confirmed, fueling widespread speculation across political and media circles.
"The Prime Minister will address the nation at 8:30 PM (April 18, Saturday)," an official said.
According to reports, Modi is likely to explain the circumstances in which the bill on women’s reservation was stalled in Parliament, with Opposition members voting against it.
Earlier, at a cabinet meeting, the prime minister reportedly said the Opposition would face consequences for the mistakes they committed.
"They have let down the women of the country. This message must be taken to every single person, to every single village," sources quoted him as saying, according to NDTV.
The bill, which proposes implementing 33 per cent reservation for women in legislatures by 2029 and increasing the number of Lok Sabha seats to 816, failed to pass Parliament on Friday, with 230 members voting against it. Out of 528 members who voted, the bill required 352 votes to secure a two-thirds majority.
Earlier, in his speech in the Lok Sabha, the prime minister had asserted that no state—big or small, north or south, or east or west—will be discriminated against in the delimitation of constituencies linked with the implementation of women quota law.
Modi said the ruling dispensation did not want credit for implementation of the women reservation law in 2029 and offered to give credit to the opposition.
Meanwhile, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and its partners in the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) have announced a massive nationwide campaign against the Opposition following the defeat of the Women’s Reservation Bill in Parliament.