India, April 6 -- Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday said that the 33 per cent reservation for women in the Lok Sabha and state assemblies would start benefiting them from the 2029 parliamentary polls, as he sought to weaken West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee's strongest electoral constituency.

Addressing his first rally in north Bengal after the poll schedule was announced, Modi turned the sprawling ground in Cooch Behar into a direct appeal to Bengal's women, invoking the state's tradition of "Shakti" worship, citing the Sandeshkhali outrage and projecting the BJP as the guarantor of "security, dignity and empowerment" for women.

"It is important for the country that women have a greater role in decisions made for the coun...