BJP calls Opposition's stand 'anti-women', says they made 'huge mistake' over women's bill rejection

In the Parliament, after the Lok Sabha was adjourned sine die, Union Parliamentary Affairs Minister Kiren Rijiju said that the defeat of the three Bills should not be seen as a defeat of the BJP.

New Delhi: At a Cabinet meeting, prime minister Narendra Modi asked ministers of his Cabinet to ensure that the Congress-led INDIA Alliance “pays the price” for defeating a constitutional amendment bill brought in for the early implementation of women’s reservation.

Calling the Opposition’s stand “anti-women”, Modi said they made “a huge mistake” and asked the ministers to take to social media to condemn the Opposition. He said that after making a mistake during the Bill’s voting on Friday, the Opposition is now trying to make amends, but that they will face the wrath of women voters.

In the Parliament, after the Lok Sabha was adjourned sine die, Union Parliamentary Affairs Minister Kiren Rijiju told reporters that the defeat of the three Bills should not be seen as a defeat of the BJP.

“With their anti-women mindset, the way the Congress and other Alliance leaders did not allow the Bills to be passed, we are sad about it. The loss will be borne by the women of the country. We tried to give women their share in running the country as well as Vidhan Sabhas. This cannot be seen as our government’s loss but as an attack on our country’s politics,” Rijiju said.

On Saturday, the BJP mounted a massive offensive against the Opposition over the bills. MPs Bansuri Swaraj and Raksha Khadse were detained by Delhi Police after they carried out a protest outside the House of Lok Sabha Leader of Opposition Rahul Gandhi.

The party also fielded senior faces Ravi Shankar Prasad and Smriti Irani to attack the INDIA Alliance. Irani said that a historic vote for women was defeated by the Congress. “Women will remember that the 33% reservation bill was passed by the BJP government, while Congress made promises for decades and failed to implement it even when in power. Congress claimed a 98-year legacy on women’s political rights, yet crushed their aspirations in Parliament, celebrating, smiling, thumping desks, and rejoicing,” she said.

Prasad said that under the Constitution any readjustment of Lok Sabha or Vidhan Sabha seat after census can only be done by delimitation by the delimitation committee. “After the 2001 Census, it was decided during Atal Ji’s government that delimitation would remain suspended until the first census after 2026, so that southern states would not be disadvantaged due to population difference,” he said.