New Delhi: BJP national president Nitin Nabin on Friday slammed Congress and its allies over the defeat of the Constitution (131st Amendment) Bill in the Lok Sabha, accusing them of adopting an “anti-women stance” and betraying women of the country.
Addressing the media in the Parliament House complex, Nabin said the day “could have been written in golden letters” but for the “grave betrayal” of the Congress and its allies.
“The Congress party and its anti-women alliance, led by Rahul Gandhi and his team, have committed a grave betrayal against half of the country’s population,” he said.
He said the bill could have been a landmark step towards ensuring greater participation and representation for women, but the opposition parties, including the Samajwadi Party, Trinamool Congress and DMK, deprived women of their “due rights and share.”
“Through this entire episode, the anti-women character of the Congress alliance has been thoroughly and completely exposed,” he said.
The BJP chief asserted that the ruling party and the prime minister made it clear that it was “not a battle for credit” but one to secure women’s rights.
“Far from claiming any credit, the Congress has, in fact, acted against its own interests, dealing a blow to its own standing in the process,” he said.
Nabin said the BJP will take the issue to the people and mobilise women.
“The women of this country, representing half of the nation’s population, will now stand firmly and unitedly against the Congress and its anti-women alliance,” he said, adding that although the bill failed in Parliament, the opposition has “fallen irreparably in the hearts of women.”
He also expressed concern over the language used by Gandhi and other opposition leaders during the debate, alleging that it reflected an “anarchist mindset.”
Without elaborating, he said such conduct would receive a “resounding reply” from women in the times to come.
Union Agriculture Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan attacked the INDIA bloc, terming April 17 a “black day” for the country’s women and democracy.
In a statement, Chouhan said despite Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Union Home Minister Amit Shah addressing all concerns raised by the opposition and clarifying that no state would face injustice or loss, the Congress and its allies “brought down the bill.”
“April 17 has become a black day for the country’s sisters and for democracy. Despite all doubts being addressed with facts, the Congress and the ‘INDI’ bloc, driven by an anti-women mindset, have struck at the hopes of the country’s sisters, daughters and mothers by defeating the women’s reservation bill,” he said.
He said it was not just a bill that had fallen, but the “dreams, aspirations and self-respect of crores of women” that were hurt.
“The women’s reservation bill was a historic step towards ensuring women’s empowerment, their participation and their decisive role in building a developed India,” he said.
Chouhan alleged that the Congress and the INDIA bloc have always sought to limit women, question their capabilities and keep them away from the decision-making process. “Today, their real face has been exposed before the nation.”
“By defeating the women’s reservation bill, the opposition has proved that it has never been sincere towards the upliftment, dignity and empowerment of women,” he added
