Chennai (Tamil Nadu) [India], April 19 (ANI): DMK Spokesperson TKS Elangovan on Saturday slammed Prime Minister Narendra Modi's address to the nation, accusing BJP of 'cheating the people.'

'They (BJP) are blatantly cheating the people. This Bill (women's reservation) was introduced twice and they did not support it, which is why it was pending in the Parliament for quite sometime, it was because of BJP. They are not interested in women's empowerment, but in reducing the number of seats of the Southern states... Out of the 850 seats, they mentioned that Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, Keralam, Andhra Pradesh, Telangana and Puducherry will get 170 seats, which means the remaining North Indian states will get 680 seats. This is how they planned. We only opposed delimitation, never talked a single word about women's reservation...,' DMK Spokesperson said. 'Why should they bring it now when the states are going in for polls?... They want to cheat the public... Which is why they convened this session, thinking that the MPs from the poll-bound states will not come in to contest...,' Elangovan further said.

Meanwhile, AIMIM leader Waris Pathan said 'BJP's time is over. If they really cared about the Women's Reservation Bill, they would have implemented it in 2023. Why bring this bill during election time--what was the hurry for?...'

AIMIM leader Imtiaz Jaleel called PM Modi's address to the nation a 'election speech.'

'We all knew this drama would be played out. It was nothing more than an election speech. His only intention was to tell the nation that everyone else is bad, and only he and his party are good...,' AIMIM leader said.

The Prime Minister accused the Congress, DMK, TMC, and Samajwadi Party (SP) of rejoicing at the expense of women's empowerment, stating that their actions would leave a lasting scar on the nation's conscience.

Addressing the nation, PM Modi highlighted the scenes within the Parliament, describing what he called a shameful display of disregard for women's rights. He noted that the opposition did not just vote against the bill but actively celebrated its failure.

The PM stated that opposition leaders were 'clapping with joy' and 'thumping tables' as the bill intended to bolster women's welfare and reservation failed to pass.

'... I was deeply saddened to see that when this proposal for women's welfare was defeated, dynastic parties like the Congress, DMK, TMC, and Samajwadi Party were clapping with joy. These people were thumping the table after snatching away women's rights...,' he said. (ANI)