www.thestatesman.com | FOLLOW US: India’s National Newspaper since 1818 | @TheStatesmanLtd Pages 16 | Editorial @thestatesmanltd ` 5.00 | People’s Parliament, Always in Session thestatesman1875 KOLKATA | NEW DELHI | MUMBAI | BHUBANESWAR Perspective Wage fault lines Analysing the SC vote in West Bengal Page 8 Page 9 | LUCKNOW | SILIGURI | 19 April 2026 S P O RT S Premier League title race will be ‘over’ if Man City loses to Arsenal, says Guardiola Page 16 BRIEFLY Centre raises DA, DR to 60 per cent: New Delhi: The Union Cabinet on Saturday approved an additional instalment of Dearness Allowance (DA) for Central government employees and Dearness Relief (DR) for pensioners, increasing both by 2 percentage points with effect from 1 January 2026, in a move aimed at easing the impact of inflation. Information and Broadcasting Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw said the hike raises DA and DR from 58 per cent to 60 per cent of basic pay and pension. “The additional instalment is intended to compensate employees and pensioners against price rise,” he said, noting that the revision adheres to the government’s established formula. The financial implications of the increase are substantial, with the annual burden on the exchequer estimated at Rs 6,791.24 crore. The decision is set to benefit approximately 50.46 lakh Central government employees and 68.27 lakh pensioners. Page 12 PM Modi says Oppn betrayed women, will face consequences SHAHID K ABBAS New Delhi, 18 April P rime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday delivered a combative address to the nation, turning a legislative setback into a political rallying point by casting the failed women’s reservation push as a larger moral and ideological battle between his government and an “antireform” Opposition. Speaking a day after the Constitution (131st Amendment) Bill, 2026 fell short of the required two-thirds majority in the Lok Sabha, Mr Modi accused Opposition parties of betraying women and warned that their stance would carry electoral consequences. “A woman may forget everything, but she never forgets her insult,” the Prime Minister said, setting the tone for the address, that repeatedly invoked the idea of dignity and self-respect to frame the bill’s defeat. He described the proposed Women’s Empowerment Amendment as a “great mission” aimed at giving “wings to women across all states” in the 21st century, and argued that its rejection amounted to a direct affront to women’s aspirations. The Prime Minister named parties such as the Congress, DMK, Trinamul Congress and Samajwadi Party as having Parl adjourned sine die after tumultuous Budget session opposed the bill, accusing them of “taking women’s power for granted” and acting out of fear rooted in “family-based politics.” In one of his sharpest attacks, Mr Modi said the Opposition had “snatched women’s rights and then thumped desks in self-congratulation,” calling it “an attack on women’s dignity and self-respect.” He went further to allege that the Congress and its allies had been “unmasked” and were surviving politically by “feeding off their state partners like a parasite.” The address marks a strategic pivot by the government, which has sought to reframe the parliamentary defeat not as a legislative failure but as a political opportunity to consolidate support among women voters ~ a demographic that has become increasingly central to electoral outcomes. Mr Modi repeatedly asserted that “100 per cent of the nation’s women power” stood with his government and pledged to “remove every obstacle” in the path of women’s reservation, signalling that the issue will remain a key plank of the ruling party’s campaign narrative. The bill’s failure came after a polarised debate over its linkage with delimitation and the proposed expansion of the Lok Sabha to 816 seats, a provision that drew scepticism from Opposition parties wary of its political implications. Strait of Hormuz: Indian vessels turn back after Iranian gunfire UNITED NEWS OF INDIA Tehran, 18 April Two vessels, including an Indian-flagged supertanker, were forced to turn back from the Strait of Hormuz on Saturday after being approached by Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) naval units, according to shipping monitor TankerTrackers. The United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations (UKMTO) confirmed reports of the incident, issuing KMTO WARNING 038-26. A container ship was struck by an unknown projectile, causing damage to some containers, though no fires or environmental hazards were reported. Authorities are investigating the attack. Audio recordings reportedly indicate that the IRGC gunboats fired upon the vessels before redirecting them westward, Iranian media reported. One of the ships involved was a very large crude carrier carrying approximately two million barrels of Iraqi oil. India conveys deep concern over shooting incident; MEA calls Iranian ambassador: New Delhi: The Ministry of External Affairs on Saturday conveyed “deep concern” to Iran's Ambassador Dr. Mohammad Fathali (photo) over the shooting incident earlier today involving two Indian-flagged ships in the Strait of Hormuz. The MEA’s spokesperson said in a statement that Iran's Ambassador was called in for a meeting with Foreign Secretary Vikram Misri this evening. The Foreign Secretary urged the Ambassador to convey India’s views and resume the process of facilitating India-bound ships across the Strait. “During the meeting, Foreign Secretary conveyed India’s deep concern at the shooting incident earlier today involving two Indian-flagged ships in the Strait of Hormuz,” the statement said. Some merchant vessels also received radio messages stating that the Strait of Hormuz was temporarily closed to shipping. The escalation comes after Iran said it had reimposed restrictions on the vital waterway. A day before, Iran's Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi had said that Tehran has opened passage for all commercial ships to pass safely through the Strait of Hormuz, for the duration of the recently announced Israel–Lebanon ceasefire. Defeat by design? Why the govt pushed a bill it knew would fail VIBHA SHARMA New Delhi, 18 April If the Narendra Modi government was aware, as Leader of the Opposition Rahul Gandhi claimed, that the Constitution (131st Amendment) Bill would fail in the Lok Sabha due to insufficient numbers on the Treasury side to meet the special majority requirement, why did it introduce it in the first place? The reality is that even a “doomed” bill can serve purposes beyond becoming law ~ such as setting the agenda, shaping public discourse, drawing attention to key issues, and normalising policy ideas over time. Observers point to several practical and political reasons for introducing such a legislation despite an anticipated defeat. First is intent. By tabling the bill, the government signalled to its supporters ~ in this case, women, seen as a strong support base of Prime Minister Narendra Modi ~ that the BJP remains committed to reform. Even without adequate numbers, this can help shape public opinion, particularly during election campaigns. Second is the pressure on the Opposition. A formal debate compels parties to take a public stand, allowing the ruling party to craft a narrative that it attempted reform but was blocked by rivals. This was evident after the bill’s defeat, when BJP leaders intensified their attacks, accusing Opposition parties of being “anti-women.” Following the failure of the Constitution (131st Amendment) Bill ~ which was intended to enable women’s reservation by the 2029 elections based on the 2011 Census ~ Parliamentary Affairs Minister Kiren Rijiju also withdrew two related bills: the Union Territories Laws (Amendment) Bill, 2026, and the Delimitation Bill, 2026. He accused the Opposition of missing an opportunity to support women’s rights. NDA leaders also staged protests within Parliament premises and issued strong statements against Opposition parties. The BJP framed the defeat not as a numbers issue but as a moral one, positioning itself as a champion of women’s empowerment under Prime Minister Modi. It portrayed the Congress, Rahul Gandhi in particular, and parties such as the Samajwadi Party and the DMK as resistant to gender equality reforms. During the debate, both the Prime Minister and Home Minister Amit Shah said that the women of the country would not forgive those who opposed the bill ~ “desh ki mahilayen maaf nahi karengi” ~ a message likely to be used politically going forward. Another possibility is that the process created space for future negotiations and amendments. It may also have allowed the government to test parliamentary arithmetic and assess where parties and individual MPs stood, thereby refining future legislative strategy ~ though this appears less likely given the strategic acumen of the BJP leadership. The government secured 298 votes in favour of the bill, while the INDIA bloc polled 230 in opposition. The government needed 352 votes for the legislation to pass. Did the government not anticipate this shortfall? That seems unlikely, as Mr Gandhi also pointed out. He argued that the bill was less about women’s empowerment and more about political strategy ~ particularly delimitation, the potential dilution of representation of southern and smaller states, and consolidating the Hindi belt, a key electoral base for the BJP. Mr Gandhi, who described the move as an attempt to reshape India’s electoral map, said it was driven by two objectives: “first, to alter the electoral map of India, and second, to project the Prime Minister as pro-women.” India, Russia operationalise key defence pact to streamline military deployments PARWINDER SANDHU SHAHID K ABBAS New Delhi, 18 April The extended Budget Session of Parliament drew to a close on Saturday, with both Houses adjourned sine die, capping a politically fraught period that exposed deep fissures over electoral reforms and the future shape of India’s representative democracy. What began as a routine fiscal exercise evolved into a high-stakes legislative battle after the government reconvened Parliament for a special three-day sitting from 16 to 18 April, seeking to push through sweeping changes linked to women’s reservation and constituency delimitation. At the centre of the storm was the Constitution (131st Amendment) Bill, 2026 ~ an ambitious proposal that combined the long-pending demand for reserving one-third of seats for women in legislatures with a contentious plan to redraw parliamentary constituencies based on the 2011 Census. The bill also formed part of a broader effort to expand the Lok Sabha to 850 seats, a move the government argued would better reflect India’s population realities. The numbers, however, told a different story. Despite securing 298 votes in favour, the bill fell short of the constitutionally mandated two-thirds majority, with 230 members opposing it ~ well below the 352 votes required for passage. The setback forced the government to retreat, withdrawing the Delimitation Bill, 2026, and the Union Territories Laws (Amendment) Bill, 2026, effectively halting the legislative push that had dominated the special sittings. The debate around the bill was as sharp as it was polarised. Opposition parties mounted a coordinated resistance, arguing that the proposed delimitation exercise would disproportionately benefit northern states while reducing the parliamentary weight of southern and smaller states that have successfully stabilised population growth. Leaders described the move as an attempt to “reshape the electoral map for political gain.” The government rejected these accusations, insisting that the reforms were rooted in constitutional necessity and democratic fairness. Home Minister Amit Shah, leading the charge in the Lok Sabha, argued that delimitation based on updated population data was long overdue and that linking it with women’s reservation would ensure a more inclusive and representative political system. New Delhi, 18 April India and Russia have operationalised a key bilateral defence framework agreement that streamlines the deployment of military personnel, ships and aircraft across each other’s territories, marking a significant step in deepening strategic and military cooperation between the two nations. According to the Russian news agency TASS, the intergovernmental agreement between Russia and India was published on Friday on the official legal information portal. The document was signed in February 2025, and a law ratifying it by Russia was adopted in December. “Entered into force on January 12, 2026," the publication on the portal states. A central provision of the agreement caps the scale of simultaneous deployments unless otherwise mutually agreed. It allows up to five military ships, ten military aircraft, and a maximum of 3,000 personnel from the sending state to be present at any given time within the territory or airspace of the receiving state. These limits are intended to ensure transparency and predictability in bilateral military engagements while maintaining operational flexibility. "Under this agreement, unless the parties agree otherwise, no more than the following may be present simultaneously on the territory of the receiving state and in the airspace above it: five military ships of the sending state, 10 military aircraft of the sending state, 3,000 military personnel of the sending state," one of the provisions of the documents read. TASS further stated that beyond troop and equipment deployment, the agreement provides a comprehensive framework for logistical coordination. The agreement outlines procedures for the use of airspace, port access for naval vessels, and the movement of military aircraft, thereby simplifying what were previously complex clearances and approvals. This is expected to significantly enhance the efficiency of joint operations and reduce bureaucratic delays. Officials indicate that the agreement will primarily support a wide range of cooperative activities, including joint military exercises, training programmes, and coordinated responses to humanitarian crises. It also explicitly covers collaboration in disaster relief operations, including responses to natural calamities and manmade emergencies, reflecting a broader scope beyond traditional defence cooperation. The framework is seen as aligning with the longstanding strategic partnership between India and Russia, particularly in the defence sector, where both countries have maintained close ties for decades. By institutionalising standard operating procedures for cross-border military engagement, the agreement is expected to bolster interoperability between the armed forces of the two countries. India and Russia continue to sustain a robust Defence partnership, accentuated by the regular Tri-Services exercise INDRA and several high-profile joint military programmes, including the BrahMos supersonic cruise missile project, the fifth-generation fighter aircraft initiative, and the ongoing Su-30MKI fighter jet programme.