Accuses Modi of ‘delaying tactics’
NEW DELHI: The Congress on Sunday intensified its criticism of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, accusing him of “shedding crocodile tears” over women’s reservation and urging the government to implement the policy immediately within the existing 543-member strength of the Lok Sabha.
Speaking at a press conference, party’s spokesperson Supriya Shrinate said the recent defeat in the Lok Sabha pertained to the Delimitation Bill, not the Women’s Reservation Bill. “Women Reservation Bill was not defeated; delimitation, which you wanted to thrust on the nation, was defeated,” she said, emphasising that the reservation legislation had already been passed unanimously by Parliament in September 2023 and is now part of the Constitution.
Shrinate alleged that the Prime Minister was using the issue to delay implementation. “PM Modi is shedding crocodile tears hiding behind the Women Reservation Bill,” she said, claiming that the government had imposed avoidable conditions by linking reservation to delimitation.
Illustrating her point, she likened the situation to having 543 mangoes but refusing to allocate women their 33 per cent share unless the total increased to 850. “If he is really serious and sincere, let him provide reservation to women within the existing strength of 543 seats immediately,” she added, accusing the government of creating obstacles.
Responding to Modi’s recent address to the nation after the amendment Bill’s defeat, Shrinate said the Prime Minister owed an apology to women for various incidents of violence and injustice. “You were right. Women won’t forget their insults. Who else knows it better than you?” she remarked.
She also raised concerns over women’s representation within the ruling party, stating that only 31 of the 240 BJP MPs are women and that female representation among its legislators is below 10 per cent. Shrinate further criticised past remarks by the Prime Minister about women leaders, referring to comments made about Sonia Gandhi and Mamata Banerjee.
Providing historical context, she noted that the Congress had first proposed women’s reservation under former Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi in 1989, alleging that it had faced opposition from senior BJP leaders at the time.
On the delimitation, Shrinate questioned the government’s claims of a “50 per cent proportionate increase” in seats, arguing that such provisions were not reflected in the draft Bill and cautioning that southern states could see their relative representation decline.
Separately, Congress general secretary Jairam Ramesh said in a post on X that the government was in “damage control” mode following what he termed a “humiliating defeat” in the Lok Sabha. He criticised the Centre for issuing explanatory FAQs after the Bill’s rejection, calling them “factually inaccurate” and alleging they failed to address key concerns raised by the Opposition, particularly the assertion that delimitation was necessary to implement women’s reservation.
The Congress maintained that women’s reservation should be delinked from delimitation and enforced without delay, presenting the issue as a test of the government’s intent and commitment.
Agencies