Lucknow: Samajwadi Party president Akhilesh Yadav took on the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) during the debate on three bills dealing with delimitation and women’s reservation in the Lok Sabha, asking how many women chief ministers came from the party.
The Kannauj MP also demanded quota for OBCs and Muslim women under the provisions of the women’s reservation legislation. A caste census should be conducted first before women’s reservation is implemented, he asserted.
“The NDA is in power in 21 states, but how many of them have women chief ministers?” he said in the Lok Sabha on Thursday. “Those who have not given space to women within their own organisation, how will they give them respect? How many women are there in the BJP’s parent organisation? The BJP is in power in 21 places, tell us how many of those states have women chief ministers. Delhi may have a woman chief Minister, but she does not have full powers, she is only a ‘half’ chief minister.”
He alleged that the BJP brings in such issues to divert attention whenever it feels that the people are becoming unhappy with its policies.
The BJP claims to be the largest party, yet women do not comprise even 10 percent of its total MLAs, he said. “Naari ko naara banana chahti hai BJP (The BJP is trying to turn women into just a slogan).”
He questioned the urgency behind women’s reservation, alleging that the BJP is using it as a pretext to delay the census. By delaying the census, he said, the government also aims to avoid a caste census, because once that happens, the question of reservation will inevitably arise.
Akhilesh further clarified that the Samajwadi Party is not against women’s reservation and supports 33 percent quota for women in Parliament, but the way the changes are being presented suggests that the BJP wants to reduce the issue to a slogan.
It was under the Samajwadi Party reservation for women in panchayats that were introduced in Uttar Pradesh, he reminded the House.
The BJP’s vote share is declining and hence it introduced the bills, he alleged.
“When the people realise that the BJP does not stand by anyone, the party tries to attract new voters with such slogans. Our demand is that the census should be conducted first. We had raised the same point in the earlier bill as well. There should be reservation for backward classes and especially for Muslim women. Without providing reservation to backward and Muslim women, our objective will not be achieved.”
He further said that due to the BJP government’s policies and ”commission-driven practices,” inflation has risen, leaving many households struggling and kitchens running empty. Women, he said, are especially affected by this situation.
Citing Noida as an example, he said that around 40,000 workers are out on the streets there, a large number of whom are women, he said, referring to the recent workers’ protest. “What is the BJP doing for them?”
(Edited by Tony Rai)
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