In a Lok Sabha speech on the Women’s Reservation Bill, Rahul Gandhi made a lighthearted jibe that he and PM Modi don’t have ‘wife issues.’ The LoP also ended with a cryptic remark, ’16 is the number, it is the whole answer to the riddle.’
In a lighthearted address during a discussion on the Women’s Reservation Amendment Bill and Delimitation, Congress MP Rahul Gandhi on Friday highlighted the role of women in everyone’s life, and drew laughter from members when he observed that both he and Prime Minister Narendra Modi don’t have “wife issues.”
The Leader of the Opposition also concluded his speech in the Lok Sabha with a cyptic remark. Stating that he knows “much more” than what he was saying in the House, Rahul Gandhi said, “16 is the number, it is the whole answer to the riddle.”
Participating in a heated debate in the Lok Sabha over the Centre’s move to push delimitation alongside amendments to the women’s quota law passed in 2023, Rahul Gandhi emphasised that women are “central and driving force in our national imagination and national perspective.”
‘PM and I Don’t Have That Wife Issue’
“All of us in this room have learned and taught a lot from the women in our lives, mothers, sisters and wives. The Prime Minister and myself don’t have that wife issue. So we don’t get that input,” he said, evoking laughter from those present, including his sister and Wayanad MP Priyanka Gandhi.
Rahul Gandhi referred to Parliamentary Affairs minister Kiren Rijiju’s speech in which he said that he got a dressing down from his wife as he did not pen a poem for her as the Law Minister Arjun Ram Meghwal had done.
Praises Sister Priyanka Gandhi’s Political Acumen
Gandhi praised his sister, Priyanka Gandhi Vadra, for her political acumen, noting that she suceeded in bringing a smile to the Home Minister Amit Shah’s face. “Yesterday I was sitting and watching my sister achieve something in five minutes that I have not been able to do in 20 years of my political career, which was to make Amit Shah ji smile. That is something I need to learn as an older brother,” he said.
Gandhi highlighted the distinct communication styles within his family, contrasting his approach with his sister’s. “She was delivering her speech in a way that is different from mine,” he acknowledged, acknowledging her effectiveness in addressing the house.
He was referring to a lighthearted exchange yesterday when Shah laughed during a debate on the Women’s Reservation Bill in response to a witty jibe from Congress MP Priyanka Gandhi Vadra. She remarked that the Home Minister’s political strategy was so shrewd that even the ancient strategist “Chanakya would be shocked.”
Lok Sabha is continuing its discussion and vote on the passage of the Constitution (One Hundred and Thirty-First Amendment) Bill, 2026, which provides 33 per cent reservation to women in Parliament and State Assemblies, along with the Union Territories Laws (Amendment) bill, 2026 extending it to Delhi and Jammu and Kashmir, and the Delimitation Bill, which is set to increase and redraw Lok Sabha constituencies, increasing them to 850.
Gandhi Slams Delimitation Bill
Rahul Gandhi said that the Delimitation Bill has “nothing to do with the empowerment of women” and is an “attempt to change the electoral map of India.”
“The first truth is that this is not a women’s bill. This has nothing to do with the empowerment of women. This is an attempt to change the electoral map of India. Actually, it is a shameful act,” he said.
“What is being attempted here is a bypass of the caste census. What they are trying to do is they are trying to avoid giving power, giving representation to my OBC brothers and sisters, and take away from them…the point is not that, but the point is that whether the caste census is going to be used for representation in Parliament, Vidhan Sabha. What you are trying to do is to make sure that the caste census has nothing to do with representation. So that you can kick the ball down by 10 years,” he added.
Rahul Gandhi, who is the Leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha, said the opposition will not allow the three bills to be passed and said the government should implement the Nari Shakti Act without delay.”Giving the women’s reservation, which is easy to do, and every Opposition member will pass it…bring that old bill back right now, we will help you pass it with implementation this second. That is the women’s bill, this is something else. The truth needs to be told about what this is,” he said.
The LoP began his speech narrating a story of his sister and him being scared of a dog when they were children, and the important “political and religious” advice that his grandmother Indira Gandhi had given him. “She told me that truth is often in the darkness and one needs courage to understand and fight for it,” Gandhi said.
Gandhi also described PM Modi’s speech in Lok Sabha on Thursday as “low energy” and said that the Opposition MPs will defeat the bill in the House. (ANI)
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by Asianet Newsable English staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)