BJP has no will to implement Women’s Reservation Bill: Congress

AICC social media national coordinator Bhavya Narasimhamurthy on Monday alleged that BJP hasn’t had the will to implement the Women’s Reservation Bill since 2014, despite Congress leaders having extended unconditional support.

While addressing a press conference at Congress House in Panaji, the Congress leader asked why it took so long for the BJP-led government to implement the bill.

“BJP had Women’s Reservation Bill in their manifesto in 2014. What stopped Narendra Modi from bringing this bill in the last nine and half years? They had the numbers, it was just the will which was missing,” she said.

“For several decades, we have voiced our commitment for women's empowerment. The Women's Reservation Bill is our brainchild and we have tried to introduce it a number of times. In 1989, it was opposed by BJP stalwarts and they voted against it,” she added, naming BJP leaders like LK Advani, Atal Bihari Vajpayee, Yashwant Sinha and Ram Jethmalani, who opposed the bill.

“In 2010, under the UPA government, we could pass the bill in the Rajya Sabha, but it couldn’t move forward any further as we didn’t have the numbers,” she said.

“When the BJP came to power, Congress president Sonia Gandhi had proposed and told PM Modi that Congress would lend unconditional support if the bill was introduced. In 2018, Rahul Gandhi also extended unconditional support,” Narasimhamurthy said.

“This is just hogwash to make sure that they win the next Lok Sabha election. They always had a communal agenda, but they stand exposed now. The women’s bill will also not work this time,” she added.

“I want to ask PM Modi what is stopping him from implementing the bill just now. There is no logic behind waiting for census and delimitation,” she said, adding that women make up between 48 and 50 per cent of the nation's population, so there is "no point in conducting a census and delimitation".

“We demand that this bill be implemented immediately, and an OBC quota included in it,” Narasimhamurthy said.