Lucknow, Apr 18 (PTI) Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath termed the defeat of the Constitution Amendment Bill to implement reservation for women in legislatures by 2029 and increase the number of Lok Sabha seats a “betrayal of women’s power” in the nation.
The amendment bill to implement 33 per cent reservation for women in legislatures by 2029 and increase the number of Lok Sabha seats to 816 was defeated on Friday.
“Today, a dark chapter has been added to the history of India’s great democracy. The opposition’s obstruction of the passage of the Constitutional Amendment Bill, essential for the ‘Nari Shakti Vandan Adhiniyam’, is a blow to the honour of ‘Bharat Mata’. It is a betrayal of all women in the nation and an infringement of their democratic rights,” Adityanath said in a post on X in Hindi late Friday night.
Accusing the Congress-led ‘INDI’ alliance of displaying an ‘anti-women mindset,’ Adityanath remarked that the women of the nation are observant and will remember this ‘deceit and injustice.’ “When the time comes, they will surely respond. Under the leadership of our Prime Minister Narendra Modi, the NDA alliance will continue its unwavering efforts to protect the honour, dignity, and rights of women and ensure their empowerment,” the chief minister said. Late Friday night, Aparna Yadav, vice-president of the Uttar Pradesh State Women’s Commission, burned flags of the Samajwadi Party and Congress outside the Vidhan Bhavan in Lucknow.
Speaking to PTI Videos, Yadav said, “The manner in which the bill was prevented from being passed means that ‘Naari Shakti’ (women’s power) will never forgive them. This has occurred repeatedly—in 1996, 1998, 2003, and now again in 2026. They do not want women from ordinary families to advance; they wish to install their own family members in positions of power.” Yadav noted that burning the flags was her way of protesting against parties with the mindset of ‘Dushasan’ and ‘Duryodhan,’ adding, “If I had remained silent, then Aparna Yadav’s soul would not have forgiven me.” Reacting to Yadav’s statement, former MLC and SP spokesperson Udaiveer Singh said in a post on X in Hindi on Friday, “Those belonging to the tradition of ‘Kaikeyi’, ‘Manthara’ and ‘Shakuni’ should not attempt to impart wisdom to the descendants of Krishna. Everyone fully understands and sees through this ‘nautanki’ (drama) and fraudulence.” The Samajwadi Party, in a post on X in Hindi on Saturday, citing party chief Akhilesh Yadav, said, “Our party supports women’s reservation. We have never opposed it; rather, we stopped those who sought to snatch away women’s rights.” Late on Friday night, a group of women gathered outside the Samajwadi Party office in Lucknow, chanting slogans such as “Naari shakti ka apmaan, nahi sahega Hindustan” (India will not tolerate the insult to women’s power). They also protested against the Samajwadi Party and Akhilesh Yadav.
In an apparent jibe at the protest, Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav shared the video on X, suggesting that BJP members should have sent at least 12 women for the protest in a state with a population of 12 crore women. In another post on X, Yadav shared a previous video clip of Yogi Adityanath from his time as a Lok Sabha MP, questioning how the BJP, which has an archaic mindset, could claim to advocate for women. “What could BJP members or others of a similarly regressive mindset possibly have to say about women, given that just a decade ago they asserted that women were not yet capable enough to be granted freedom or the liberty to make their own decisions?” he questioned. Yadav claimed that women today hold no hope for a BJP that confines them to household chores and child-rearing. “Only when the BJP is gone will women be truly able to breathe freely,” he said. Aradhana Mishra ‘Mona’, the Leader of the UP Congress Legislature Party, emphasised that the bill’s defeat is a significant assault on the Constitution, claiming it protects constitutional values. “The Congress has always been in favour of women’s reservation. However, the government has not even issued a notification for the bill that was approved two-and-a-half years ago,” she said. Questioning the intentions of the ruling party, Mishra asserted that the entire opposition stands ready to support the government if it implements the reservation policy based on the existing number of seats in Parliament.
A Constitution Amendment Bill to implement 33 per cent reservation for women in legislatures in 2029 and increase the number of Lok Sabha seats to 816 was defeated on Friday.
While 298 members voted in support of the bill in the Lok Sabha, 230 MPs voted against it. The bill required 352 votes for a two-thirds majority.
According to the Constitution (131st Amendment) Bill, Lok Sabha seats were to be increased 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.
This was the first time that a bill under the Modi government was defeated in Parliament. PTI NAV MPL MPL
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