New Delhi, Apr 18 : Congress leader Priyanka Gandhi Vadra on Saturday accused the Centre of conspiring to change the federal structure of the country in the garb of women’s reservation and asserted that the defeat of the bill to amend the women’s quota law in the Lok Sabha was a victory of opposition unity.
Addressing a press conference here, the Congress general secretary underlined that the opposition was not against reservation for women and would support the Women’s Reservation Act, 2023, if the government sought to implement it on the current strength of the Lok Sabha.
The sole aim of the government behind bringing the Constitution amendment bill was to remain in power permanently, Priyanka Gandhi charged, adding that the people of the country could see through its intentions.
She claimed that the government wanted to use the bill for its benefit in the 2029 elections.
“What happened yesterday was a very significant victory for democracy. The government’s conspiracy to alter the federal structure and weaken democracy was defeated and stopped.
“It was a victory for the Constitution, the country and the unity of the opposition. This was clearly visible on the faces of leaders from the ruling side,” the Congress general secretary told reporters at the press conference.
She said yesterday was a “black day” for the government, which saw a bill defeated in Parliament for the first time, and demanded that it implement women’s rights through the 2023 law.
“When Home Minister Amit Shah was speaking in the Lok Sabha on Friday, he said the Congress will not be able to sit in the treasury benches for years, which shows their mindset… The whole conspiracy was to permanently stay in power. They thought that if delimitation is not done now, it would not be done before 2029 to remain in power,” Priyanka Gandhi said.
This was being done by using women’s rights as an excuse. The government would have done delimitation according to its wishes, she claimed.
“They thought that if the Bill passes, it is fine. If it fails, we will project the opposition as anti-women and become the messiah of women. But it is not easy to become the messiah of women. We saw what happened to women in Hathras, what happened to our Olympic medallists and others,” she said.
“The opposition could not have supported the move (delimitation). It (voting on women’s reservation bill) showed that the opposition can defeat them (government) when united,” she added.
Asked how it would counter the BJP’s efforts to dub the opposition “anti-women”, Priyanka Gandhi said, “The public is seeing this. The public continues to suffer with multiple problems… and it can see through their narrative.”
Women across classes and castes, be it rich or poor, continue to suffer and their problems are increasing under this government, she claimed.
In a major setback to the government, the Constitution (131st Amendment) Bill to implement 33 per cent reservation for women in legislatures by 2029 and to increase the number of Lok Sabha seats to 816 was defeated in the Lower House 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 for a two-thirds majority.
The Bill proposed to increase the number of Lok Sabha seats to 816 from the current 543 to “operationalise” the women’s reservation law before the 2029 parliamentary polls, following a delimitation exercise based on the 2011 Census.
Seats were also to be increased in state and Union territory assemblies to accommodate 33 per cent reservation for women.
The three-day sitting from April 16 was convened to secure Parliament’s approval for the Bill. (PTI)
