25-09-2023 : The All India Congress Committee (AICC) has strongly criticized the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) for what it perceives as a duplicitous stance on the issue of women’s representation and their rights. AICC spokesperson Ritu Chaudhary expressed her concerns and raised pertinent questions regarding the delay in implementing women’s reservation despite the unanimous passage of the bill in Parliament.
Speaking at a press conference held at the party’s office, Ritu Chaudhary pointed out the stark contrast between the hype generated around the issue of women’s reservation and the actual progress made in this regard. She highlighted that a special parliamentary session had been convened, creating a sense of urgency. However, when the draft bill was unveiled, it became clear that its implementation was not on the immediate horizon. This, she argued, amounted to yet another unfulfilled promise by the Modi Government, leaving the women of the country disillusioned.
Chaudhary drew attention to the fact that the bill had been linked to the completion of a census, followed by delimitation, which would inevitably take several more years. This protracted timeline left women waiting for years before they could benefit from the reservation, if at all. She questioned the BJP’s motives in sowing confusion and cautioned that the people would not be deceived by such political maneuvering.
The AICC spokesperson noted that both Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi had written to Prime Minister Modi on two occasions, expressing their support for the women’s reservation bill. Despite the BJP’s clear majority in Parliament for nine years, no concrete steps had been taken. Chaudhary accused the BJP and the Modi Government of playing politics with women’s rights, passing the bill as a pre-election move but failing to set a timeline for its implementation.
She credited the Congress Party, led by Rajiv Gandhi, with introducing the original reservation bill for women in Panchayati Raj Institutions (PRIs). The bill was subsequently passed by the Congress government under PV Narasimha Rao, resulting in approximately 15 lakh women being elected as representatives in PRIs across the country today.
Chaudhary highlighted that the reservation bill had initially been passed by the Rajya Sabha in 2010, under the Congress government, with 33% reservation in Parliament and State Assemblies. However, it had faced obstacles in the Lok Sabha due to the lack of consensus. Despite having a clear majority, the BJP had remained silent on the issue for years and had now, in the eyes of the AICC, once again played with the aspirations of women.
Furthermore, Chaudhary questioned the BJP’s rejection of demands for reservation for Other Backward Classes (OBCs), a substantial portion of the population, especially in states like Uttar Pradesh where the BJP had come to power with their support. She demanded to know why the reservation bill, as passed, was not being implemented immediately.
The press conference also saw the participation of prominent figures from the Jammu and Kashmir Pradesh Congress Committee (JKPCC), including spokespersons Ravinder Sharma, Kapil Singh, Namrata Sharma, Neeraj Gupta, and former MLA and former President of Mahila Congress, Indu Pawar.