Hitting back at Prime Minister Narendra Modi, the Congress on Saturday said he delivered a “distress address” rather than a national address, and challenged him to bring a bill in Parliament to implement women’s reservation within the existing set up of the Lok Sabha.Soon after the Prime Minister’s address to the nation in which he attacked the opposition parties for not backing the government’s Constitution amendment bill, Congress general secretary in charge of communications Jairam Ramesh said a sitting PM’s address to the nation has a sanctity to it and is meant to be a non-partisan address intended to build national resolve and confidence.Reacting to the PM’s broadcast, Ramesh told reporters that it was a “Congress-abuse address”.Also read: Opposition guilty of ‘foeticide’ of women’s quota, will pay the price: PM Modi in address to nation”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,” Ramesh said on X.The PM has apologised for failing to see his Constitution amendment bill through the Lok Sabha, but what he should have apologised for is his “shameless, deceitful” attempts to push through a “devious delimitation” proposal in the name of women, Ramesh said.”His niyat (intention) is anything but saaf (clear). It is poisonous. If one were to investigate his niyat, one only has to ask why the Nari Shakti Vandan Adhiniyam, 2023, passed unanimously way back in September 2023, was notified only late at night on April 16, 2026, after a delay of 30 months. His talking of ‘mahila samman’ is sheer hypocrisy given the way he has conducted himself throughout his life,” Ramesh said.”What the PM attempted in the Lok Sabha yesterday — a weakening of our democracy and our federalism — was exactly the sort of attack on the Constitution that was anticipated when the PM called for ‘400 paar’ in the run-up to the 2024 Lok Sabha Elections,” Ramesh said.His attempts to invoke the legacy of the Constitution-makers only induce a “revulsion at his dishonesty”, the Congress leader said.Ramesh said, among the prime minister’s more laughable claims was that the Congress opposed the Jan Dhan-Aadhar-Mobile and the GST — both “entirely Congress creations”.Former Prime Minister Indira Gandhi nationalised the banking industry and laid the foundation for universal bank access, Ramesh said, adding that Aadhaar was launched by former PM Manmohan Singh on September 29, 2010, from Nandurbar district in Maharashtra.India’s digital revolution was conceptualised and enabled by Rajiv Gandhi’s vision and mission, he added.”The GST too was similarly pushed by Dr Manmohan Singh’s government and was only unable to pass back then because of opposition from a certain ex-CM of Gujarat (Modi).”The same CM opposed the National Food Security Act, 2013 and MGNREGA that proved to be lifelines for crores of Indians during the COVID-19 pandemic. The PM is a pathological liar, and he proved this once again tonight,” Ramesh said.Pointing out that Modi ended his speech stating that there was a ‘waqt ka intezaar’ for women’s reservation, Ramesh said there is no need for a ‘muhurat’ to give India’s women their due.”The Congress challenges the prime minister to move a bill in Parliament tomorrow to implement women’s reservation within the existing set up of the Lok Sabha,” Ramesh asserted.The Congress has said its stand on the immediate implementation of women’s reservation in legislatures has remained consistent, while alleging that the Modi government has “consistently flip-flopped” on the issue and is attempting to push through “insidious” changes to the country’s polity.In a major setback to the government, the Constitution (131st Amendment) Bill to implement 33 per cent reservation for women in legislatures in 2029 and increase the number of Lok Sabha seats to 816 was defeated in the Lower House on Friday.While 298 members voted in support of the bill, 230 MPs voted against it.  Out of 528 members who voted, the bill required 352 votes for a two-thirds majority.The bill proposed to increase the number of Lok Sabha seats to 816 from the current 543 to “operationalise” the women’s reservation law before the 2029 parliamentary polls, following a delimitation exercise based on the 2011 Census.Seats were also to be increased in state and UT assemblies to accommodate 33 per cent reservation for women.The three-day special sitting was convened from April 16 to 18 to secure Parliament’s approval for the bill.After the bill was defeated, the Congress had said the “nefarious attempt” of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Home Minister Amit Shah to link their “dangerous delimitation proposals” to women’s reservation had been decisively defeated in the Lok Sabha, calling it a win for democracy and the Constitution.