Bengaluru, 19 April

The BJP accused the Congress-led INDIA bloc of “betraying women” by opposing the Constitution Amendments in the Lok Sabha, which sought to increase the reservation of women in the legislatures alongside a delimitation exercise.

Addressing a press conference in the City on Sunday, BJP MP Anurag Thakur said that the Opposition had "historically failed" to support women’s empowerment.

"Congress, TMC, DMK, and the Samajwadi Party have strangled women’s reservation for the fifth time. Shame on them," he said.

The Himachal Pradesh MP claimed that while the Bill had earlier received support due to political compulsions, the Opposition’s "real intent" had been exposed.

‘No loss, only gain’

Thakur said the impact of delimitation on southern states was misconstrued by the Opposition at the Centre.

"My dear friends, there is no loss—only gain," he said, adding that states such as Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, Telangana, and Andhra Pradesh would see an increase in seats, along with enhanced representation for women, Scheduled Castes, and Scheduled Tribes.

He claimed that the Opposition was attempting to create regional divisions.

Long history of undermining women

Tracing the history of the Women’s Reservation Bill, Thakur said multiple attempts between 1996 and 2010 had failed due to a lack of sufficient political consensus.

He maintained that the current framework, including a census and delimitation under constitutional provisions, was necessary for implementing the proposed 33 per cent reservation.

Separately, Union Minister Pralhad Joshi said at a press conference in Thiruvananthapuram that the Opposition had a "history of undermining" women’s rights, citing the Shah Bano case, where the party, he claimed, brought in legislation to overturn a Supreme Court verdict and deny justice to Muslim women.

"Congress is spreading ‘misinformation’ that delimitation would reduce the number of parliamentary seats in southern states. The Centre intends to increase the total number of seats by 50 per cent," he said, adding that the representation of southern states in the Lok Sabha would marginally rise from 23.76 per cent to around 24 per cent after the Bill’s implementation.

He claimed that Congress didn’t support the Bill in 1996 when it was first introduced under then Prime Minister HD Deve Gowda.