Agartala (Tripura) [India], May 1 (ANI): Tripura Chief Minister Manik Saha on Thursday said that Prime Minister Narendra Modi is working sincerely for the development of women in all fields, and the issue of women's protection is one of them.

He said that the Prime Minister's goal is the real empowerment of women, and due to opposition, the amendment to the Women's Reservation Bill could not be passed in Parliament.

CM Saha said this in a one-day special session of the state assembly today. The main topic of this special session was Nari Shakti Bandhan.

He said in the assembly that today Chief Whip Kalyani Saha Roy moved a motion in the assembly titled the 131st Constitution Amendment Bill, 'Nari Shakti Bandhan Act,' to ensure 33%, i.e., one-third reservation of seats for women in the Lok Sabha and state assemblies.

'For this, I sincerely welcome her. I think this amendment is a strong step towards the empowerment of women in India. Almost everyone has participated in the discussion on this issue in this meeting. I firmly believe that everyone will support the proposal of the proposed 131st Amendment Bill to the Indian Constitution. I express my gratitude to the Leader of the Opposition and the opposition members, including the Treasury Bench. Many members discussed this issue in the Assembly today,' he said.

The Chief Minister said that everyone had a constructive discussion on this issue in the Assembly today. Although the Opposition always opposes any bill brought in the Parliament, this was no exception.

Giving information, CM Saha said that delimitation will be done based on population, not based on region. In this case, it is not that the seats in the South or Northeast will decrease because it is a constitutional process.

In the discussion, the Chief Minister also said that the Opposition always does whatever is necessary to confuse the people.

'Their main goal is to create division and create doubts in the minds of the people. And now a lot can be done with the power of social media. Whenever the Bharatiya Janata Party-led NDA government brings a bill, we have seen that it has always become a habit to oppose it. Whenever Article 370 was abolished in Jammu and Kashmir, the Opposition opposed it. Today, there is peace there. There was opposition during the construction of the Ram temple as well. But our Prime Minister always moves in the right direction. There was opposition to the Citizenship Amendment Act as well. And a lot was said during the abolition of the triple talaq system. Apart from this, the Opposition has opposed many other important issues,' he said.

The Chief Minister also said that Prime Minister Narendra Modi is working sincerely for the development of women in all fields.

'Among them, the issue of women's protection is one of them. He is doing a lot for the welfare of women. His goal is the real empowerment of women. The Women's Reservation Bill was passed in a special session in the new Parliament building in September 2023. Its main objective is to reserve 33% of seats for women. It has been brought to eliminate gender inequality between men and women. There have been attempts to pass this law for three decades. Finally, during the time of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, this bill was passed by a huge majority in the Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha. This bill states that there will be reservations for women in SC, ST, etc. This is a reservation within a reservation. Each state will get a specific number of seats based on population,' he added.

On April 17, 2026, the Constitution (131st Amendment) Bill, 2026, did not pass in the Lok Sabha, as it failed to obtain the required two-thirds majority. Although 298 members voted in favour, the Bill was still 54 votes short of the 352 needed for approval. The result underscored the absence of broad agreement, especially regarding its connection to delimitation and the proposed expansion of seats. (ANI)