NEW DELHI: Opposition leaders on Saturday hit out at Prime Minister Narendra Modi over his women reservation bill address where he accused the TMC, Congress, DMK and its allies of being guilty of “foeticide” by not letting the quota bill pass in the Lok Sabha.Congress termed the PM’s speech a “distress address” and said that he “should have apologized for is his shameless, deceitful attempts to push through a devious delimitation proposal in the name of women.”“A sitting Prime Minister’s address to the nation has a sanctity to it. It is meant to be a non-partisan address intended to build national resolve and confidence. This pathetic partisan and polemical attack – a Distress Address rather than a National Address – would have been more appropriate in a Press Conference. But as unhinged as he is by the extraordinary legislative humiliation he suffered in the Lok Sabha last night, the non-grihasthi Prime Minister is still too much of a coward to face the media,” Congress general secretary Jairam Ramesh said in a post on X.“The Prime Minister ended his speech with saying that there was a ‘waqt ka intezaar’ for women’s reservation. There is no need for a muhurat to give India’s women their due. The Indian National Congress challenges the Prime Minister to move a bill in the Parliament tomorrow to implement women’s reservation within the existing set up of the Lok Sabha,” he added.“Narendra, the worst form of insulting women is to have used them as a DECOY* to try and pass the Delimitation Bill,” said TMC MP Derek O Brien.TMC MP Mahua Moitra dismissed the PM’s speech as “dramebaazi”, adding that “women’s reservation already passed in 2023 & notified 2 days ago”.“Hello @narendramodi – Your dramebaazi & your Godi media script will not hide truth- women’s reservation already passed in 2023 & notified 2 days ago. NOTHING stops you from implementing it now & giving 1/3 of 543 seats to women the way TMC has done,” she said.PM Modi, in his address, termed the defeat of the Constitution (131st Amendment) Bill in the Lok Sabha, which sought 33% reservation for women and an expansion of seats to 816 ahead of the 2029 polls, a major setback for women nationwide, apologising for failing to secure its passage despite government efforts.“Today, I have come to speak to the mothers, sisters, and daughters of the country. Today, every citizen of India is seeing how the dreams of India’s women power have been crushed mercilessly. Despite our best efforts, we could not succeed. For this, I sincerely apologise to all mothers and sisters,” he said, adding that “parties like Congress, DMK, TMC and Samajwadi Party have committed foeticide by defeating bill on women reservation.““For us, national interest comes first. But for some people, when party interest becomes everything, then women’s empowerment and the nation’s interest suffer. That is what has happened this time as well. The selfish politics of parties like Congress, DMK, TMC and SP has cost the women of this country,” he added.