Modi Accuses TMC of Blocking Women’s Reservation Bill Ahead of Bengal Polls
Modi blames TMC for stalling the Women's Reservation Bill, framing it as a betrayal of women in West Bengal that highlights sharp political fault lines before state elections.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi has publicly accused Mamata Banerjee’s Trinamool Congress (TMC) of blocking the Constitution (131st Amendment) Bill 2026, which aims to reserve seats for women in Parliament and state assemblies. Modi claimed the TMC’s opposition to the bill was a betrayal of women and framed it as a direct effort to prevent West Bengal women from gaining more political representation as MPs and MLAs. This accusation comes just weeks before West Bengal’s crucial assembly elections, where women’s votes and representation are pivotal battlegrounds.
Why the Women’s Reservation Bill Matters
The Women’s Reservation Bill, long pending in India’s Parliament, seeks to reserve one-third of all legislative seats for women to address gender imbalances in political power. The 131st Amendment Bill 2026 is a renewed effort in this direction, aiming to institutionalize women’s representation through constitutional amendment—a move that would have significant national and state-level implications.
In West Bengal, where the TMC dominates, women’s political participation is already substantial under Mamata Banerjee’s leadership, but critics argue formal reservation would secure and expand their role beyond party loyalty. Modi’s emphasis on the bill serves multiple strategic purposes. It underlines the BJP’s claim as a champion of women’s empowerment and casts the TMC as regressive and anti-women—a potent accusation just before voting. The BJP has steadily increased its footprint in Bengal over the past five years, and women's votes could be decisive.
The TMC’s resistance to the bill stems from both political calculation and ideological grounds. Mamata Banerjee has dismissed Modi’s charge as “hypocritical,” asserting that the BJP’s larger denial of social justice and state autonomy outweighs any claim to women’s welfare. She may see the bill as an attempt to alter the political dynamics of candidate selection and reservation quotas controlled by the TMC presently, potentially diluting its electoral base.
Political Stakes in Bengal’s Polls
West Bengal’s assembly elections, scheduled for early May 2026, have become a proxy war between the BJP and TMC, with national and regional stakes intertwined. Modi’s framing of the bill controversy is designed to force voters to view the TMC through the lens of gender justice, a sensitive and increasingly dominant electoral issue nationally.
The BJP’s narrative attempts to peel women voters away by branding the TMC as obstructive and regressive, while TMC counters by questioning BJP’s sincerity and portraying itself as the genuine protector of Bengali identity and social welfare. This clash over the Women’s Reservation Bill exposes deeper tensions over gender politics, federalism, and democratic representation.
What to Watch Next
Keep an eye on how the Women’s Reservation Bill shapes electoral discourse in Bengal’s remaining weeks before voting. Will Modi’s push boost BJP’s appeal among women voters or will Mamata’s counter-narrative neutralize this angle? Also watch whether other parties—Left Front and Congress—make any tactical moves on this socio-political issue.
The bill’s parliamentary fate remains uncertain, but its election-season invocation is a clear signal of the BJP’s strategy to nationalize and moralize the Bengal polls. How this plays out could influence not just seat shares but also longer-term gender representation politics in India’s federal system.
For more on India’s evolving political battlegrounds, see 
India and Global Politics.
LiveMint report on Modi’s accusation
