'My Heart Ached...': Smriti Irani, Rupali Ganguly & Maithili Thakur React To PM Modi's Address On Women’s Reservation Bill Failure In Lok Sabha

Prime Minister Narendra Modi addressed the failure of the Women’s Reservation Bill in the Lok Sabha on Saturday, April 18, 2026. Sharing a clip of the PM stating that women were left disappointed, Kyunki Saas Bhi Kabhi Bahu Thi 2 actress and former Union Education Minister Smriti Irani took to social media to criticise the Opposition for celebrating despite the setback to women’s welfare.

Smriti tweeted, "When the proposal for women's welfare was defeated... family-based parties like Congress, DMK, TMC, and SP were clapping with joy and thumping their desks."

Singer and Bihar MLA Maithili Thakur also reacted to PM Modi’s address. She shared a photo of herself watching his speech live and wrote, "Today, while traveling on the roads during election campaigning in Bengal, I heard Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi ji's message addressed to the women."

She added, "My heart ached to see that an important proposal related to women's empowerment could not pass in Parliament this time." Emphasising the need for change, she said that the voice of women will continue to rise because "respect and security" are the right of every woman.

Rupali Ganguly also penned a note as Prime Minister Narendra Modi addressed the nation. The Anupamaa actress wrote, "Yesterday was an unfortunate day for our democracy. The failure to pass the Women’s Reservation Bill in the Lok Sabha is a betrayal of millions of women awaiting rightful representation."

Rupali added that under PM Modi's leadership strong efforts were made to empower women and that the bill was a crucial step forward. She then went on to criticise the opposition for "petty politics" and a lack of intent. She concluded her post with, "Women will remember this. They will not forgive being denied their rightful place."

PM Modi called out the opposition by saying, "The women of the country will not forgive the Congress and its allies for this. These parties are also spreading misinformation on delimitation and are trying to create divisions, following a politics of divide and rule." He added, "Nation’s welfare is our priority, but when political benefit becomes the priority for some people, even bigger than the nation’s welfare, the women of the country have to bear the burden for this. The same happened this time as well."