Delhi Assembly passes censure motion against Opposition after defeat of women quota bill

She also attacked female leaders from the opposition parties, including West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee and Congress leader Priyanka Gandhi, accusing them of adopting an anti-women stand.

“Priyanka Gandhi gave ‘Ladki Hun Lad Sakti Hun’ slogan and herself ran away when the women were fighting for their rights,” Gupta said in the House, adding that women across the country were hoping for the end of their 78-year wait, but the Opposition was bent on defeating the bill.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi brought amendments in the Nari Shakti Vandan Adhiniyam to ensure enhanced representation of women in state legislatures and Parliament by 2029, but the bill got defeated. In the past 27 years, the bill for increased representation of women was tabled in Parliament seven times and the Opposition always defeated it, Gupta said.

Sharpening her attack, the CM said Leader of Opposition, Atishi, did not speak on the issue and claimed there must be some “conspiracy” behind the same. “I sympathise with her for surviving in the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) with difficulty,” she added.

BJP MLAs on Tuesday also wore black armbands to mark their protest against the defeat of the bill.

Meanwhile, Atishi launched an attack on CM Gupta and PM Modi for allegedly seeking votes with the “Rs-2,500 Modi Ki Guarantee” but failing to deliver a single rupee to Delhi’s women.

Addressing a press conference, the former CM said, “…we want to ask the BJP-led Delhi government and PM Modi one question: when will Delhi’s women receive the sum of Rs 2,500 that was promised to them? Before the Delhi elections, in January 2025, PM Modi had promised that on 8 March that year, every woman in Delhi would receive Rs 2,500 in her bank account. He had called it ‘Modi Ki Guarantee’ and told women to link their phones with their bank accounts.”

Questioning the delay, she said, “Forget Rs 2,500, not even 25 paise has reached the accounts of Delhi’s women. CM Rekha Gupta, during the West Bengal election campaign, said they would give money to the women of Bengal … you have already deceived the women of Delhi. You took their votes … but even today, they are wondering when Rs 2,500 will be credited.”

She added, “The BJP has left no stone unturned in troubling Delhi’s women. Women who could earlier board DTC buses with dignity, knowing travel was free, are now standing in queues for Pink Cards. Women who used to go to Mohalla Clinics for free medicines, free treatment and free tests are today wandering from place to place.”