Mumbai, Apr 18 (PTI): Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Eknath Shinde on Saturday said Prime Minister Narendra Modi's address to the nation after the defeat of the Women's Reservation Bill in the Lok Sabha is a strong rebuttal to the opposition. In a post on X, Shinde said the opposition expressing happiness over the denial of rights to women, was extremely unfortunate. "As Prime Minister Modi clearly stated, this is not just the defeat of a bill, but an attack on the dignity of women. However, this obstacle will not last long," he wrote. "The rejection of the Nari Shakti Vandan Adhiniyam in the Lok Sabha, which insulted the women of the country, was followed today by the address of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, which was a strong rebuttal to the opposition," Shinde said. There is no doubt that under Narendra Modi's leadership, women will receive their rights and dignity, he asserted, saying the Shiv Sena will stand firmly alongside the NDA government and lead this fight. Prime Minister Narendra Modi, during his address to the nation on Saturday evening, said opposition parties had "mercilessly crushed" the aspirations of women by not allowing the Women's Reservation Bill to pass in Parliament despite the government's best efforts. A day after the bill to implement women's reservation in legislatures was defeated in the Lok Sabha, Modi said the self-serving politics of parties like the Congress, DMK, TMC, and SP has come at the expense of the nation's women, alleging that the opposition foiled efforts to grant 33 per cent reservation to women in legislatures. PTI PR ARB ARB(This story is published as part of the auto-generated syndicate wire feed. No editing has been done in the headline or the body by ABP Live.)