The Congress on Tuesday submitted a privilege notice to Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla against Prime Minister Narendra Modi, alleging that his national address on April 18 “cast aspersions” on Opposition MPs.

In a letter to Birla, Congress MP KC Venugopal said that a prime minister criticising the Opposition for not being able to pass a bill in Parliament was “unprecedented and a blatant abuse of power”.

Modi, in his address, criticised Opposition parties for defeating in the Lok Sabha the Union government’s bill to amend the 2023 Women’s Reservation Act and redraw the boundaries of electoral constituencies.

On April 17, the 2026 Constitution 131st Amendment Bill, one of three draft legislations introduced by the Centre during a special session, was defeated in the Lower House of Parliament.

As a Constitution amendment bill, it required a two-thirds majority of votes to pass. The ruling National Democratic Alliance does not have a two-thirds majority of MPs in any House and had required the support of the Opposition to pass the amendment.

In his address, Modi claimed that Opposition parties stood against the draft legislation, which he described as the women’s reservation bill, for their “selfish political interests”.

Opposition parties, including the Congress, the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam and the Trinamool Congress, have maintained that they supported the amendments to the Women’s Reservation Act, but were opposed to the proposed delimitation of electoral constituencies.

On Tuesday, Venugopal wrote that the Constitution 131st Amendment Bill, “in the guise of implementing women’s reservation” in Lok Sabha and Assemblies, “surreptitiously sought” to do away with guardrails against delimitation.

“This is what the Opposition MPs in the Lok Sabha were protesting,” the Congress leader reiterated.

He added: “It is well established that casting reflections, aspersions, imputing motives to Members of Parliament in regard to speeches made by them in Parliament tantamount to gross breach of privilege and contempt of House.”

Parliamentary privilege refers to the rights and immunities enjoyed by members of the two Houses. If proven, the House can issue a warning against an MP, impose fines, or even sentence them to prison.

Venugopal said it was “appalling” that the prime minister was “so annoyed that he chose to address the nation casting aspersions on Members of Parliament who were honestly performing their duties”.

In his letter, he told Birla that this matter “deserves to be treated with utmost seriousness, as questioning an elected representative performing his duty is not merely a personal assault but a direct affront to the authority of Parliament”.

Soon after Modi’s address, the Congress had said that Modi had turned an official address to the nation into a political speech “full of mudslinging and outright lies”.

The party also said that the Model Code of Conduct is in force in several states because of Assembly elections and “it was very clear how PM Modi misused official machinery to attack his opponents”. “This is a travesty of democracy and the Constitution of India,” said Congress chief Mallikarjun Kharge.