Congress submits privilege notice against PM Modi, says his ‘address to nation’ was ‘abuse of power’

The Congress on Tuesday submitted a privilege notice to Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla against Prime Minister Narendra Modi, alleging that his national address on April 18 “cast aspersions” on Opposition MPs.

In a letter to Birla, Congress MP KC Venugopal said that a prime minister criticising the Opposition for not being able to pass a bill in Parliament was “unprecedented and a blatant abuse of power”.

Modi, in his address, criticised Opposition parties for defeating in the Lok Sabha the Union government’s bill to amend the 2023 Women’s Reservation Act and redraw the boundaries of electoral constituencies.

On April 17, the 2026 Constitution 131st Amendment Bill, one of three draft legislations introduced by the Centre during a special session, was defeated in the Lower House of Parliament.

As a Constitution amendment bill, it required a two-thirds majority of votes to pass. The ruling National Democratic Alliance does not have a two-thirds majority of MPs in any House and had required the support of the Opposition to pass the amendment.

In his address, Modi claimed that Opposition parties stood against the draft legislation, which he described as the women’s reservation bill, for their “selfish political interests”.

Opposition parties, including the Congress, the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam and the Trinamool Congress, have maintained that they supported the amendments to...

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