‘Distress Address; outright LIES…’: Oppn reacts sharply to PM Modi's national address - Who said what?

Prime Minister Narendra Modi's address to the nation on Saturday sparked strong criticism from the Opposition. Taking a swipe, Congress leader Mallikarjun Kharge alleged that a “desperate and frustrated PM with nothing meaningful to show for the last 12 years, turned an official address to the nation, into a political speech, full of mudslinging, and outright LIES.”

Meanwhile, Jairam Ramesh claimed the PM's address was a “Distress Address rather than a National Address."

The Congress leaders' comments come after PM Modi – on Saturday – heavily criticised the grand old party, TMC – among other Opposition parties after the after the bill to implement women's reservation – the Constitution (131st Amendment) Bill – in legislatures failed to pass the Lok Sabha.. “Women will never forget this insult," said PM Modi. He also apologised to women over the failure to pass the bill.

‘Distress Address rather than a National Address’

Following the PM's address, Jairam Ramesh claimed that “PM should have apologised for his shameless attempt to push a devious delimitation proposal in name of women."

"The Prime Minister has apologized for failing to see his Constitution amendment bill through the Lok Sabha. What he should have apologized for is his shameless, deceitful attempts to push through a devious delimitation proposal in the name of women," wrote Jairam Ramesh. He also claimed it was a “Distress Address.”

'Use them as DECOY'

TMC MP Derek O' Brien posted on X: “Narendra, the worst form of insulting women is to have used them as a DECOY* to try and pass the Delimitation Bill. *Decoy (noun) : a thing or a person that is used to trick somebody into doing what you want them to do.”

‘Mentioned Cong 59 times and women barely few times’

“A desperate and frustrated PM with nothing meaningful to show for the last 12 years, turned an official address to the nation, into a political speech, full of mudslinging, and outright LIES. The Model Code of Conduct is already in place and it was very clear how PM Modi misused official machinery to attack his opponents. This is a travesty of Democracy and the Constitution of India," Mallikarjun Kharge wrote in a lengthy post on X.

"Modi ji mentioned Congress 59 times and women barely few times. That tells the country everything about his priorities. Women are not the BJP’s priority. Congress is, because Congress stands on the right side of history,” he wrote.

‘Cold storage’

CPI, a key constituent of the LDF in Kerala – said that Prime Minister Narendra Modi should apologise to women across the country for allegedly keeping the Women's Reservation Act in "cold storage" after it was passed in 2023, reported PTI.

CPI state secretary Binoy Viswam alleged that the Prime Minister, through his statements, was attempting to "hide the shame of the defeat of his political strategy"- referring to the move to reintroduce the Act by linking it with delimitation and the census – mentioned PTI's report.