Jammu: Union Minister Hardeep Singh Puri, Rajya Sabha MP and former National Commission for Women chairperson Rekha Sharma, and J&K BJP president and Rajya Sabha MP Sat Sharma on Saturday accused the Congress and the INDIA alliance of “killing” the Women’s Reservation Bill and acting against the interests of women.
Addressing a press conference at the BJP headquarters in Trikuta Nagar, Jammu, the BJP leaders said the opposition had betrayed women by obstructing the implementation of the proposed reservation framework and reiterated the party’s commitment to the Nari Shakti Vandan Adhiniyam.
The press conference was also attended by BJP vice-president Priya Sethi, general secretary Sanjita Dogra, Mahila Morcha president Neha Mahajan, and senior leaders Veenu Khanna and Shailja Gupta.
Puri launched a sharp attack on the Congress and INDIA bloc, alleging that they had deliberately sabotaged the women’s reservation initiative despite the Centre’s efforts to build consensus.
He said the Modi government had shown commitment to the legislation and claimed that Union Home Minister Amit Shah had even offered additional time for consensus-building and amendments to facilitate its passage.
“The opposition, driven by narrow political interests, chose obstruction over empowerment,” Puri said.
The Union minister said the BJP-led government had consistently pursued women-led development since coming to power and cited several flagship schemes aimed at women’s welfare, including provisions ensuring women’s ownership in houses under government housing schemes.
Rejecting the opposition’s criticism regarding delimitation, Puri said claims that southern states would suffer losses in representation were “baseless and misleading”.
He asserted that states such as Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, Tamil Nadu and Kerala would gain representation after delimitation and accused the opposition of creating a false narrative for political reasons.
Puri also accused the Congress and its allies of opposing women’s empowerment in the past, including over the issue of Triple Talaq.
“By celebrating the obstruction of a transformative bill meant for women, Congress has once again exposed its anti-women mindset,” he said.
Speaking on the occasion, Rekha Sharma said the Congress had repeatedly stalled the issue of women’s reservation over the last three decades.
She alleged that despite prolonged discussions in Parliament, the opposition had once again chosen to “kill” the bill.
Sharma said women’s reservation was not a favour but a right and maintained that delimitation was essential for the effective implementation of the reservation framework.
She accused the Congress of trying to create a North-South divide over delimitation and alleged that opposition parties had repeatedly displayed an anti-women mindset.
During her address, Sharma referred to several past statements and incidents involving opposition leaders and parties to support her criticism.
She also accused the Congress of remaining confined to dynastic politics centred around a single family and said the party had failed to empower women beyond that.
“The repeated obstruction of this bill proves that Congress and its allies are more interested in political theatrics than genuine social reform,” she said.
Earlier, Sat Sharma said the Congress and INDIA alliance had committed a “historical blunder” by opposing the women’s reservation framework.
He said the opposition’s stand had exposed what he described as its hypocrisy and double standards on women’s issues.
Sharma said women across the country were watching these developments closely and would hold the opposition accountable.
He added that the BJP would intensify its outreach campaign to expose what it called the anti-women stance of the Congress and INDIA alliance and would continue to push for the full implementation of the Nari Shakti Vandan Adhiniyam.
