‘Was like Draupadi’s cheerharan scene’: Yogi slams Opp for defeat of Constitutional Bill in Lok Sabha

Singling out the Samajwadi Party (SP) over its demand for a separate reservation for Muslim women, Adityanath said that attempts were being made to raise “irrelevant issues” about the legislation aimed at women’s empowerment.

“Yeh Samvidhan ki duhai dete hain, lekin Baba Saheb Ambedkar ki bhavnaon ke vipreet acharan karte hain (They invoke the Constitution, but act against the spirit of B R Ambedkar),” Adityanath said.

Referring to debates during the framing of the Constitution, the chief minister said religion-based reservation had been firmly rejected then. Adityanath argued that the women’s reservation Bill was a “progressive step” that did not take away anyone’s rights but sought to ensure greater participation of women in governance. “Yeh mahila sashaktikaran ke liye ek progressive soch ka kadam hai, ismein kisi ka haq nahi mara ja raha (This is a progressive step for women’s empowerment and does not take away anyone’s rights),” he said.

He further questioned the Opposition’s record on issues concerning Muslim women, citing the Shah Bano case and the triple talaq legislation.

The senior BJP leader said parties in the INDIA bloc, including the Samajwadi Party and the Congress, had had “ample opportunity” during their years in power to advance women’s rights but had failed to do so. He reiterated that the women’s reservation Bill should be seen as a unified effort to empower women rather than as an issue to be “fragmented for political gains”.

On Friday, the 131st Constitutional Amendment Bill, which sought to advance reservation of 33 per cent seats for women in an expanded Lok Sabha and state Assemblies and facilitate delimitation of the constituencies, failed to clear the House on Friday due to lack of two-thirds majority needed for its passage.

Defending the Bill, Adityanath said, “When some southern states raised the issue that rightful share might get reduced, both Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Home Minister Amit Shah gave assurance that in accordance with the framework established by the 2011 Census, the representation for the southern states would increase in exactly the same ratio as it does for the northern and eastern states,”

“There was only one wish that the entire House unite to pass the Nari Shakti Vandan Adhiniyam along with the amendment,” he added.

This was the first time a Bill under the Narendra Modi government was defeated in Parliament.

With PTI