Jammu, Sept 25: Claiming that bringing the women’s reservation bill was a “politically motivated move”, the Congress on Monday said it was the “biggest jumla” of the BJP government in the last nine years.
The party also alleged that the BJP has a habit of taking credit of works initiated by the Congress, whether it be on the bill or infrastructure projects.
“The women’s reservation bill is the ‘biggest jumla’ in the last nine years. Multiple ‘jumlas’ have come but this is the biggest one,” Congress national spokesperson Shama Mohammad told reporters in Srinagar.
If Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the government were serious about the issue, they would have implemented reservation for women from the 2024 Lok Sabha polls, she said and added that “as of now, it is indefinite” and “we do not know when (it will be implemented)”.
The bill to reserve one-third of seats in the Lok Sabha and state assemblies for women received the parliamentary nod on Thursday as the Rajya Sabha voted unanimously in favour of it.
The 128th Constitution amendment bill, referred to as the Nari Shakti Vandan Adhiniyam, will now require the approval of a majority of state assemblies. It will be implemented after a delimitation exercise to redraw parliamentary and assembly constituencies based on a census which the government has said will be commissioned next year.
While referring to the bill, Congress leader and AICC spokesperson Ritu Chaudhary told reporters in Jammu that it is nothing but a “politically motivated move” to hoodwink people, particularly women.
The BJP has the “habit of taking credit for every work that was started by the Congress”, she said and added that “it (the bill) was the dream of former prime minister Rajiv Gandhi, and former prime ministers PV Narasimha Rao and Manmohan Singh also worked for its implementation”.
“All the works being done under (Prime Minister Narendra) Modi were basically started by the Congress. All the infrastructure which have come up (during the Modi government) were planned by the Congress. He is just cutting ribbons and naming these in his name,” Chaudhary said.
On BJP MP Ramesh Bidhuri’s objectionable remarks in the Lok Sabha against BSP parliamentarian Danish Ali, Shama Mohammad said, “Normally, he should have been suspended immediately. But Speaker Om Birla has not taken any action.”
The Congress leader said the prime minister has not said a word on this.”Remember, this is inside the temple of democracy on a Muslim. If the condition of a Muslim members of Parliament is this, what will be the condition of Muslims elsewhere?” she asked.
Shama Mohammad said, “He (Bhiduri) has not been suspended. They said a showcause notice. We remember Pragya Thakur (BJP MP) was also given a notice when she called (Nathuram) Godse ‘desh bhakt tha, hai aur rahega’. The prime minister said ‘mai maaf nhi karun ga’ (I won’t forgive). What action did he take? It’s going to be the same. No action will be taken by the BJP (against Bhiduri).”
Chaudhary also attacked the BJP on the issue asked if such a speech was acceptable to the prime minister in the “temple of democracy”.
On the women’s reservation bill, Shama Mohammad said it is like giving a lollipop to a child when they are crying. “But after sometime, the child realises that he got nothing because a lollipop melts away,” Shama Mohammad said.
Congress leader Chaudhary said that “ask any BJP MP whether they had seen the draft of the bill and when it is going to be implemented. Nobody knows anything”. She alleged that “as Modi is left with no issue to speak on in election rallies, they (BJP) have come out with this idea”.
She said if reservation for women had to be implemented, it should have been done by now as former Congress president Sonia Gandhi had written to Prime Minister Modi in 2016 on the need for it.
Chaudhary said that women are clever enough to know the BJP’s intention of bringing this bill at fag end of its rule. “Nothing is expected from them (BJP) as they have not even given legitimate rights to women at their homes, party and the RSS (Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh),” she said.
Referring to the sexual harassment case lodged by women wrestlers against BJP MP and former Wrestling Federation of India (WFI) chief Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh, she said he was also present during the passage of the women’s reservation bill. “This is the double face of the BJP” on women empowerment, the Congress leader said.
On the Canada-India row over Khalistani terrorist Hardeep Singh Nijjar’s killing on Canadian soil, she said there will be no compromise with national security and “we (Congress) stands with the government on this”. The party leadership has already made its stand clear that “we will not compromise with security, integrity and unity of the nation”, Chaudhary said.
In Jammu, she also paid tributes to the three army personnel, including a colonel and a major, and a police officer who laid down their lives during an anti-terrorist operation in Kokernag in south Kashmir’s Anantnag district on September 13.
