New Delhi: Prime Minister Narendra Modi said Monday that the Opposition did not dare resist the Women’s Reservation Bill because “women have become more aware” about their rights and empowerment.
“Women have become stronger in the last nine years… Seeing this, these parties did not have the courage to oppose the Bill. Why could they not pass this Bill even when they had a majority at the Centre?” Modi asked at a rally of party workers in poll-bound Madhya Pradesh.
The Bill, officially called the “Nari Shakti Vandan Adhiniyam”, was passed in Parliament last week and reserves one-third of seats in the Lok Sabha and state assemblies. The legislation, which has been linked to the delimitation exercise following the next census, may not see the light of day before 2024.
At the Bhopal rally – dubbed the “Karyakarta Mahakumbh” – Modi went all out against the Congress, saying the “dynastic and corrupt party” was like “rusted iron” that would be destroyed if kept in the rain.
The Prime Minister said Congress turned a “rich Madhya Pradesh into a BIMARU (laggard) state”, saying MP’s first-time voters were fortunate to have been under BJP rule. “They opposed digital payments but the world is impressed by the UPI system,” he said.
“This is the time to develop India and Madhya Pradesh. At such a crucial time, if a dynastic party like Congress, which has a history of scams worth thousands of crores, gets a chance, then Madhya Pradesh will suffer greatly,” Modi said at the rally.
He said the upcoming elections were crucial, and urged people to vote for his party so that the “journey of development did not stop”. “The BJP government in Madhya Pradesh has completed almost 20 years. First-time voters are fortunate they have not seen the bad governance of the Congress,” the Prime Minister added.
VIDEO | "The upcoming (MP Assembly) polls are very crucial. We have to make sure that the path of development created by people of MP, that vehicle of development doesn't wander or stop," says PM Modi at 'Karyakarta Mahakumbh' in Bhopal. pic.twitter.com/IWHKoVpoQn
— Press Trust of India (@PTI_News) September 25, 2023
Modi said it was important to win the state elections for “a developed India, a developed Madhya Pradesh”. “Humein Vidhan Sabha hi nahi, balki har booth jeetna hai, har booth par logo ka dil jeetna hai,” he exhorted workers.
Before addressing the event, Modi paid a floral tribute to Jana Sangh co-founder Deendayal Upadhyaya on his birth anniversary.
The Prime Minister was also felicitated by women members for the successful passage of the Women’s Reservation Bill in Parliament last week.
Later in the day, Modi will kick off BJP’s campaign in Rajasthan with a “Parivartan Maha Sammelan” in Jaipur.
The event marks the culmination of the BJP’s four-phase “Parivartan Yatras” – led by senior party leaders in Rajasthan – which travelled to all 200 Assembly constituencies to build momentum ahead of the state elections.