New Delhi: A day after the Women’s Reservation and Delimitation Bills were defeated in the Lok Sabha, Prime Minister Narendra Modi will address the nation at 8:30 pm on Saturday, his office has announced, as reported by NDTV.
There is no confirmation yet on the subject of the address. However, as it comes just a day after the bills were defeated, it is likely that the Prime Minister will speak on the matter. PM Modi’s last address to the nation was on 21 September 2025, when he briefed the public on GST 2.0 reforms.
The Constitution (131st Amendment) Bill aimed to increase the number of seats in the Lok Sabha from the existing 543 to 816, to accommodate 33 per cent reservation for women. While 298 members voted in favour of the legislation, 230 MPs voted against it.
The bill was defeated because, out of the 528 members who voted, it required 352 votes to secure a two-thirds majority.
Two other bills, including one on delimitation and increasing the number of seats in the lower house, were not put to a vote after the first one failed, with the Centre stating that they were “intrinsically linked” to the women’s reservation legislation.
Earlier in the day, Congress MP Priyanka Gandhi Vadra demanded that the Centre immediately reintroduce the 2023 Women’s Reservation Bill, calling the failure of the Constitution (One Hundred and Thirty-First Amendment) Bill, 2026, in the Lok Sabha a “black day” for the NDA government.
Addressing a press conference , Priyanka Gandhi urged the government to act without delay. "If you want to do something concrete, bring back the bill that was passed unanimously in 2023, supported by all parties. If you need to make a few small amendments to it so it can be implemented now, do it and implement it now. Give women their rights, right now," she said.
