3 min readLucknowUpdated: Apr 20, 2026 05:17 AM IST
To continue his attack on the Opposition over the defeat of the Constitutional 131st Amendment Bill that sought to advance reservation of 33 per cent seats for women in an expanded Lok Sabha and state Assemblies, Prime Minister Narendra Modi will address a women’s convention in his parliamentary constituency of Varanasi on April 28.
The Prime Minister will be on a two-day tour of Varanasi from April 28.
At a meeting of the Kashi regional unit of the BJP on Sunday for the preparations for the Mahila Sammelan, it was decided to ensure the presence of over 50,000 women at the convention.
BJP sources said that in order to send a message of women empowerment, the party has decided to give key responsibilities related to the event preparations to women leaders of the party.
Taking note that the event will be held on the eve of the first phase of polling for the West Bengal Assembly elections, a senior BJP leader told The Indian Express, “Certainly, the West Bengal elections will be at the core of the PM’s address on April 28. The subject of the Mahila Sammelan is likely to be women reservation Bill. Women from Varanasi city, zila unit and adjoining districts will be present in the audience.”
On Sunday, in his first public appearance in West Bengal after the Bill could not muster enough numbers in Parliament last Friday, the PM attacked the Trinamool Congress, claiming that it ‘betrayed’ women.
The Opposition, on the other hand, has been accusing the BJP-led NDA government at the Centre of introducing the Bill to get political mileage in poll-bound states like West Bengal and Tamil Nadu.
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Another BJP leader said that the PM will stay overnight in Varanasi and address another event in the city on April 29.
To invite women to the Mahila Sammelan, the BJP will hold a drive in the region and tell them what the Modi-led government has done for the empowerment of women since 2014.
In the first major legislative loss for the Modi government since it came to power in 2014, the Constitutional (131st Amendment) Bill, 2026, seeking to advance reservation of 33 per cent seats for women in an expanded Lok Sabha and state Assemblies and facilitate delimitation of constituencies, was defeated in Lok Sabha Friday evening.
