Kolkata, April 18 -- A day after the central government failed to push a Constitution amendment bill to expand the size of the Lok Sabha and fast-track 33% reservation for women, West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee on Saturday sharpened her attack on the Narendra Modi government, declaring that the defeat signalled the beginning of the downfall of the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and its leadership.

"That was not the women's reservation bill. They had just created a narrative. In the guise of women's reservation bill, they wanted to increase the seats in the Lok Sabha from 543 to 850. They wanted to divide the nation and Bengal," she told an election rally in Howrah's Uluberia area.

"Despite assembly elections at our doors...