Jammu: Jammu and Kashmir National Conference Provincial President Rattan Lal Gupta on Saturday launched a scathing attack on the BJP, accusing it of playing a “cruel political charade” with the women of the nation by mishandling the women’s reservation bill.
Addressing a gathering at party headquarters, Sher-e-Kashmir Bhavan here, Gupta said the BJP government “reduced a historic opportunity for women’s empowerment into a hollow spectacle of political posturing.”
He alleged that the ruling party introduced the bill despite being fully aware that it lacked the crucial two-thirds majority required for its passage.
“This was not legislative intent; it was legislative theatrics,” the NC leader remarked, adding that the government failed to build consensus or take the opposition into confidence.
“When you bring a constitutional amendment without groundwork or dialogue, you are not empowering women, you are merely exploiting their aspirations for political optics,” he said, describing the move as a “headline-hunting exercise rather than a genuine reform effort”, asserting that such actions undermine both parliamentary credibility and public trust.
Calling upon women across the country to remain vigilant, Gupta urged them to unite and resist what he termed “tokenism masquerading as empowerment.”
He emphasised the need for sustained, inclusive policies rather than “one-off symbolic gestures designed for applause, not impact.”
Highlighting the stance of the Omar Abdullah-led government, Gupta noted that it remains committed to substantive empowerment of women through meaningful participation in development across all sectors.
Referring to the 131st Constitutional Amendment Bill, Gupta reiterated that the BJP knowingly pushed forward legislation without the numerical strength to secure its passage.
“Introducing a bill destined to fail is not governance, it’s political grandstanding,” he quipped, noting that the bill’s defeat in the Lok Sabha exposed the government’s lack of seriousness.
