Shimla, Apr 24 (PTI) A day after the Himachal Pradesh BJP organised a padyatra here to protest against the opposition parties for voting against a constitution amendment bill, Chief Minister Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu on Friday asked why the saffron party did not protest when the Revenue Deficit Grant (RDG) was discontinued.
Talking to mediapersons here, Sukhu asked what exactly the purpose of the current protests and demonstrations was when the Women’s Reservation Bill was passed in 2023, and the Congress party had extended its full support to it.
These protests merely demonstrate that the BJP has no actual desire to implement the Women’s Reservation Bill, he alleged.
“Why was the Act not implemented in 2023? Why is the BJP now claiming that the implementation will only take place after the delimitation exercise and an increase in the number of seats?” he asked.
“When Himachal Pradesh was struck by natural disasters, they stayed silent. When the Revenue Deficit Grant was discontinued, they offered no resistance,” Sukhu said.
He said the BJP has not lodged any protest yet demanding the release of the Rs 1,500 crore aid package announced by the Prime Minister.
“The BJP is staging these protests now solely to divert public attention and to engage in political opportunism. It is acting against the interests of Himachal Pradesh,” Sukhu said.
Hitting out at the opposition parties for voting against the constitutional amendment bill to accelerate implementation of the women’s quota law, the BJP leaders had accused the Congress of consistently treating women as mere vote banks and denying them real empowerment.
BJP state president Rajeev Bindal had on Thursday said that Congress has betrayed the women of the country. PTI BPL RUK RUK
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