New Delhi, Apr 18: Congress leader Priyanka Gandhi Vadra on Saturday accused the Centre of conspiring to change the federal structure of the country in the garb of women’s reservation and asserted that the defeat of the bill to amend the women’s quota law in the Lok Sabha was a victory of democracy and opposition unity.
Addressing a press conference here, the Congress general secretary underlined that the opposition was not against reservation for women and would support the Women’s Reservation Act, 2023, if the government sought to implement it on the current strength of the Lok Sabha.
The sole aim of the government behind bringing the Constitution amendment bill was to remain in power permanently, Priyanka Gandhi charged, adding that the people of the country could see through its intentions.
She claimed that the government wanted to use the bill for its benefit in the 2029 elections. This was not about the women’s reservation but was related to delimitation, she said.
“What happened yesterday was a very significant victory for democracy. The government’s conspiracy to alter the federal structure and weaken democracy was defeated and stopped.
“It was a victory for the Constitution, the country and the unity of the opposition. This was clearly visible on the faces of leaders from the ruling side,” the Congress general secretary told reporters at the press conference.
She said it was a “black day” for the government, which saw a bill defeated in Parliament for the first time, and demanded that it implement the 2023 women’s reservation law.
“The Modi government has received its first jolt and, therefore, it is calling it a ‘Black Day’. This jolt was very necessary,” she asserted.
“When Home Minister Amit Shah was speaking in the Lok Sabha on Friday, he said the Congress will not be able to sit in the treasury benches for years, which shows their mindset… The whole conspiracy was to permanently stay in power.”
Claiming the BJP has a history when it comes to women’s issues, Gandhi alleged that the ruling party wanted to avoid delimitation post the caste census. “This was being done by using women’s rights as an excuse. The government would have done delimitation according to its wishes,” she claimed.
She said the Prime Minister and Home Minister have been claiming that if the opposition does not agree, it will never be able to win elections or come to power.
“These statements alone make it clear what the government’s intention was,” she said, alleging it was a “conspiracy” hatched by the government.
“They thought that if the bill passes, it would be their victory, and if the bill does not pass, they would label the opposition as anti-women.
“The BJP wanted to do this to prove itself as the messiah of women. But it is not easy to become the messiah of women. We saw what happened to women in Hathras, what happened to our Olympic medallists and others,” she said.
The Congress leader said the entire country has seen how the Modi government is defeated when the opposition unites.
“The opposition could not have supported the move (delimitation). It (voting on women’s reservation bill) showed that the opposition can defeat them (government) when united,” she added.
Asked how it would counter the BJP’s efforts to dub the opposition “anti-women”, Priyanka Gandhi said, “The public is seeing this. The public continues to suffer with multiple problems… and it can see through their narrative.”
Vadra said the struggles of women have intensified and “they are watching the government’s PR and media tactics, understanding them. Therefore, none of that will work now.”
“The people of the country are aware; the government cannot mislead them,” she said.
The reality is that the people’s trust in this government has already eroded and “they cannot be trusted, she said.
In a major setback to the government, the Constitution (131st Amendment) Bill to implement 33 per cent reservation for women in legislatures by 2029 and to increase the number of Lok Sabha seats to 816 was defeated in the Lower House on Friday.
While 298 members voted in support of the Bill, 230 MPs voted against it.
