Women's bill: Telangana BJP claims its chief was put under house arrest ahead of protest plan

Hyderabad: Telangana BJP claimed that its chief N Ramchander Rao was put under house arrest on Saturday ahead of a protest he called at Chief Minister A Revanth Reddy's residence against the Congress for allegedly defeating the women's quota bill in Parliament.

Rao was kept under house arrest to stall the protest at the CM's house, Telangana BJP said in a post on X. It also attached photographs of the police action.

Despite the restrictions, the BJP would not relent in its campaign against the Congress party's stance, Rao said.

Slamming the Congress for "stalling" the Constitution Amendment Bill on women's reservation that also proposed to increase the number of seats in Parliament, Ramchander Rao termed it a 'black day' on Friday night, alleging that the party had denied women their rightful representation in legislatures and the Lok Sabha.

Calling for protests, the BJP leader urged the women in Telangana to "drive away" Congress leaders for the injustice caused to them by the party.

In a major setback to the union government, a Constitution Amendment Bill to implement 33 per cent reservation for women in legislatures in 2029 and to increase the number of Lok Sabha seats to 816 was defeated on Friday.

While 298 members voted in support of the Bill, 230 MPs voted against it. Out of 528 members who voted, the Bill required 352 votes to secure a two-thirds majority.