New Delhi, Apr 16 (PTI) In a stinging attack, Congress leader Priyanka Gandhi Vadra accused Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday of using the women’s-reservation issue to hang on to power and claimed that if the Constitution amendment bill brought by the government is passed, democracy in India would cease to exist.
Participating in a debate in the Lok Sabha on three bills introduced for amendments in the women’s-quota law and setting up a delimitation commission, Priyanka Gandhi questioned why the government had linked the women’s-quota law with delimitation and said the prime minister should implement women’s reservation based on the current strength of the Lok Sabha (543 seats).
If Modi truly respected the women of the country, he would not use them for political purposes, she said.
The Congress MP asserted that a caste census is important as women from the Other Backward Classes (OBC) also need to be given their due.
“Is the prime minister afraid of a caste census, fearing that once the actual data emerges, it will reveal just how large and powerful the OBC community truly is?” she asked.
The MP from Kerala’s Wayanad alleged that the Bharatiya Janata Party-led Centre has introduced the bill because it does not wish to grant representation to OBC women.
“By making the 2011 Census the basis for delimitation, Prime Minister Modi is attempting to snatch the rights of the OBC community. However, the Congress party will never allow this to happen,” she asserted.
Priyanka Gandhi said the bill talks of increasing the number of Lok Sabha seats to up to 850 — to be done by a delimitation commission on the basis of the 2011 Census data.
“This seems fine on the surface but the real meaning comes to the fore when one carefully reads it. It smells of politics,” she said.
The Congress leader claimed that Modi is surrounded by problems and is facing immense international pressure.
“The situation is such that he has turned a historic step like women’s reservation into an excuse to hang on to power…. Modi, while rejecting a caste census, wants to create a Parliament where there will not only be a lack of freedom of expression but also an absence of equality for backward classes and regions,” she said.
Why can’t reservation for women be granted in these very 543 Lok Sabha seats today, Priyanka Gandhi asked.
“This reservation can be passed today itself and it will not harm the country through needless delimitation,” she said.
“Had the prime minister undertaken this historic step with sincerity, the entire House would have supported it,” the Congress leader said.
She said on reading the fine print, it shows that the three members of the delimitation commission will decide the fate of the states and their representation in Parliament.
“The government began finishing off democracy by putting pressure on institutions, such as the Election Commission, the judiciary, the media etc., but now, an open attack on democracy is being launched,” she said.
If this Constitution amendment bill is passed in Parliament, democracy will cease to exist in India, Priyanka Gandhi added.
In friendly banter, she told Home Minister Amit Shah that had Chanakya been alive today, he would have been startled by the BJP leader’s “political shrewdness”.
She accused the government of once again wanting to “dupe” people and launching a “big attack on the country’s integrity”.
“On one hand there is this big talk of women’s reservation and on the other hand, the rights of OBC are being taken away. A strong structure is being erected for the next polls by reducing the influence of small states, shredding democracy to pieces,” she alleged.
“The home minister is laughing…. He has made this full scheme. Had Chanakya been alive, he would have been startled by your political shrewdness (‘rajnaitik kutilta’). He (Shah) made the whole plan and he is laughing now…. He agrees with me,” the Congress leader said.
She also took a swipe at Modi, saying from his remarks, it appeared as though the BJP is the sole champion of women’s reservation.
“Any woman will tell you that women can instantly identify men who repeatedly try to mislead them,” she said.
Giving a background to women’s reservation in legislative bodies, the Congress MP said, “When the Women’s Reservation Bill was passed in 2023, the Congress extended its full support to it…. There should be no doubt whatsoever that the Congress stands firmly in favour of women’s reservation.” She pointed out that Rahul Gandhi had written to Modi in 2018, urging the prime minister to implement the women’s reservation in legislative bodies.
“The prime minister may mock Rahulji here (in the House), but once he goes home, he pays heed to his suggestions,” she said.
Citing the historical context of women’s reservation, Priyanka Gandhi said, “Implementing women’s reservation within our country’s political framework was a pioneering step. The provision for 33 per cent reservation for women in panchayats and municipalities was originally brought in Parliament by the Congress government under the leadership of Rajiv Gandhiji. However, those provisions could not be passed at that time.” “Today, the prime minister also alluded to this, but as is his custom, he told only half the story. The prime minister mentioned that the provision faced opposition back then, but he failed to mention who had opposed it…. The truth is that it was you (the BJP) who had opposed the bill at that time,” she said, adding that the Congress government under P V Narasimha Rao finally passed the bill. PTI ASK RC
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