'Blatant abuse of power': Congress moves privilege notice against PM Modi over address to nation on women quota

NEW DELHI: Congress MP KC Venugopal on Tuesday submitted a breach of privilege notice in Parliament against Prime Minister Narendra Modi over his address to the nation after his 131st Constitutional (Amendment) Bill, 2026, failed to pass in the Lok Sabha.

Calling it a "blatant abuse of power", the MP from Alappuzha said that the address in which the PM criticised the opposition constituted a "serious breach of privilege and contempt of the House."



"In the 29-minute speech termed as 'address' to the Nation, the Prime Minister criticised opposition parties for blocking the bill and made direct reflections on the voting pattern of Members of the Opposition and attributed motives to them... Addressing the Nation by the Prime Minister on Government not able to muster the requisite majority in Parliament, for criticising the Opposition parties, is unprecedented, which is unethical and a blatant abuse of power. Such statements by the highest executive functionary of the country constitute a serious breach of privilege and contempt of the House" Venugopal's notice read.


Sharing the notice on X, Congress general secretary Jairam Ramesh said, "A sitting PM’s address to the nation has always been reserved for the overriding purpose of national unity and confidence-building. The Prime Minister’s unabashed partisan demagoguery during this address – with 59 different attacks on the Congress party – will be yet another permanent stain on his record as Prime Minister."

This follows remarks by Prime Minister Modi, who said the rejection of the Constitution (131st Amendment) Bill deals a direct blow to women’s dignity, an affront he believes female voters will not forget. “Women may forget many things, but not an insult to their pride,” he said.

He added that what he called the opposition’s “misdeed” would ultimately be punished by the people.
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