Chandigarh, Apr 20 (PTI) Punjab Congress chief Amrinder Singh Raja Warring on Monday slammed the BJP-led Centre for accusing his party of betraying women and said it was not the women’s quota bill that was defeated in Parliament but the delimitation bill.
He also spoke against the delimitation of the Lok Sabha and assembly constituencies across the country, claiming that it would reduce the proportionate share of states like Punjab and increase that of states like Uttar Pradesh and Bihar.
Addressing a press conference here, Warring lashed out at the BJP accusing it of trying to mislead women in the country over the issue of the women’s reservation bill.
He asked the Union government to give reservations to women out of 543 Lok Sabha seats.
Warring was accompanied by AICC general secretary Sukhjinder Singh Randhawa and AICC secretary Kuljeet Singh Nagra.
It was not the women’s reservation bill that was defeated in Parliament but the delimitation bill. The BJP tried to stealthily bring in the delimitation bill under the guise of the women’s reservation bill, which has already been unanimously passed in 2023, he said.
The Congress does not need any certificate from the BJP on providing equal rights and reservations to women, said Warring.
He said it was 39 years ago in 1989, when Rajiv Gandhi introduced 33 per cent reservation for women in rural and urban local bodies, with the result that about 40 per cent members in local bodies across the country are women.
The Punjab Congress leader justified the party’s opposition to the constitutional amendment bill which led to its defeat, saying if it had been allowed to be passed, the government would have brought in delimitation which would have put states like Punjab and Tamil Nadu at a disadvantage while giving undue advantage to states like Uttar Pradesh and Bihar.
While the proportionate share of the states like UP, Bihar and Rajasthan will increase by 1.7, 1.2 and 1 per cent respectively, that of the states like Punjab, Tamil Nadu, Kerala and West Bengal will decrease by 0.3, 1, 1 and 0.2 per cent respectively, he claimed.
The intentions are obvious to increase the proportion where the BJP is strong and reduce the proportion where the BJP is weak, he alleged.
A Constitution amendment bill seeking to increase the number of Lok Sabha seats and implement 33 per cent reservation for women in legislatures from 2029 under Nari Shakti Vandhan Adhiniyan was defeated in the Lower House on Friday. While 298 members voted in support of the bill in the Lok Sabha, 230 MPs voted against it. Out of 528 members who voted, 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.
Warring also took a dig at Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann’s foreign trips in the name of attracting investments.
He said it was merely a “vacation trip” projected as an investment trip.
He claimed that the AAP government failed to attract any investment in Punjab.
Congress leader Randhawa, who is also the deputy chief minister of Punjab, also targeted the Bhagwant Mann government over the alleged deteriorating law and order.
He spoke about recent robbery and murder incidents, claiming that the law and order has “collapsed” in the state. PTI CHS KSS KSS
This report is auto-generated from PTI news service. ThePrint holds no responsibility for its content.