During a press briefing at the All India Congress Committee (AICC) office in New Delhi, Congress spokesperson Supriya Shrinate accused the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) of using the women's reservation bill as a 'political shield' for divisive motives. The bill, aimed at reserving 33% of seats for women in the Lok Sabha, failed to achieve the required two-thirds majority in a recent vote. Prime Minister Narendra Modi, in a televised address, criticized opposition parties for blocking the bill and claimed they were responsible for issues like female foeticide. Shrinate countered that Modi's focus on Congress during his speech indicated a fear of the opposition's exposure of BJP's tactics. She alleged that the government's intentions were not genuinely aimed at empowering women but rather at facilitating an 'undemocratic delimitation' under the guise of the reservation bill. Furthermore, she called for the immediate removal of conditions attached to the bill that would delay its benefits, emphasizing that the BJP's representation of women in the Lok Sabha stands at only 12.9%, below the national average. Shrinate urged the government to pass the bill without further delay, asserting that the current approach deprives women of their rights.