Dehradun, Apr 28: Uttarakhand Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami on Tuesday said his government, under the guidance of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, remains “unstoppable” in its mission to empower women.
Addressing a special Assembly session convened specifically to discuss “Nari Samman — Rights in Democracy”, Dhami asserted that Uttarakhand will move forward “without stopping or tiring” to ensure the rights of “Matra Shakti”.
The proceedings for the day commenced at 11 am with the singing of “Vande Mataram”.
Dhami launched an attack on the Congress and the Samajwadi Party (SP), accusing them of being arrogant and obstructing the Nari Shakti Vandan Adhiniyam.
He compared the opposition’s “resistance” to the women’s reservation bill to the “pride of Ravan”, asserting that the country’s “Matra Shakti” now recognises who truly works for their rights.
“The same arrogance that led to the downfall of Lankapati Ravan was visible in the opposition’s conduct in Parliament,” the chief minister said.
He added that while the prime minister was willing to share credit for the bill’s passage with all parties, the opposition chose to mislead people using the pretext of delimitation and census.
Dhami warned against obstructing the empowerment of women, stating, “Do not be so arrogant as to snatch the rights of women, the very power that gave birth to you.”
He expressed “grave condemnation” for the behaviour of certain leaders in the Lok Sabha regarding the issue and urged for a constructive discussion during the state’s special proceedings.
The ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and opposition parties have sparred over the Constitution (131st Amendment) Bill, 2026, that sought to implement 33 per cent reservation for women in legislative bodies in 2029 and increase the number of Lok Sabha seats to up to 850. When put to vote, the bill failed to secure the required two-thirds majority in the Lok Sabha on April 17.
The special Assembly session witnessed a heated exchange as Leader of Opposition Yashpal Arya questioned the technical feasibility of the bill. He argued that the government’s claim of providing reservation to women by 2027 is misleading since the quota is legally tied to the completion of the census and delimitation exercises.
“The 2011 Census was the last conducted. The 2021 Census was delayed and even though 2026 has begun, it will take at least two more years for the final figures to be published,” the Congress leader said.
He estimated that the actual implementation could be delayed until 2033 or 2034 and characterised the move as a strategic attempt of the BJP to “save political ground”. Arya alleged that the delimitation process is being designed to “make opposition seats vanish”.
The opposition further questioned the necessity of the new amendment bill, noting that this is the sixth time that such legislation has faced procedural hurdles.
The Congress demanded that the women’s quota be implemented immediately based on the existing seats, rather than waiting for a fresh census. It urged the government to ensure that the 2023 bill is applied by the 2029 general election to prove its sincerity.
Parliamentary Affairs Minister Subodh Uniyal raised objections to the LoP’s speech, triggering a face-off between the members of the treasury and opposition benches. (PTI)
