Gandhinagar, April 19 Any force that opposes women has never survived and will not survive in the future, Gujarat Chief Minister Bhupendra Patel said on Sunday, as the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leaders accused the Congress and its allies of blocking the 'Nari Shakti Vandan Adhiniyam Amendment Bill' in Parliament.
Addressing a press conference at the State BJP headquarters in Gandhinagar, Chief Minister Patel said the proposed legislation was "not merely a law but a decisive step towards women's empowerment" through 33 per cent reservation for women in the Lok Sabha and state Assemblies.
"On one hand Congress speaks about women's welfare, while on the other it attempts to block their legal empowerment. Its double standards have been exposed," he added.
Union Minister and Maharashtra MP Raksha Khadse said the Bill, introduced under the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, was aimed at ensuring dignity and rights for women but was obstructed in the Lok Sabha.
"The 'anti-women' Congress has betrayed the women of the nation and the future of youth by blocking the passage of the bill," she said, adding that despite a clear provision in the 2023 legislation that it would come into force only after delimitation, "Congress politicised the issue and did injustice to women".
Khadse said the measure was intended for "all women and youth of the country, not any one party", and noted that delimitation would have led to an increase in Lok Sabha seats.
"Women of the country had hoped that Congress and its allies would support this bill," she said.
Referring to criticism from Congress General Secretary Priyanka Gandhi, she added, "The allegation that the Prime Minister is doing politics in the name of women is baseless."
She also cited Union government initiatives to underline what she described as efforts towards women's empowerment.
"Since 2014, work has been done not just on paper but on the ground, including providing gas connections to more than 11 crore households under Ujjwala Yojana and strengthening women through self-help groups," Khadse said.
The Union Minister also added, "Even in local body elections, several states have provided up to 50 per cent reservation to women, yet the historic path to increase their representation in Parliament and Assemblies has been blocked."
state BJP President Jagdish Vishwakarma said the developments in Parliament were "not just the defeat of a bill but a direct attack on the dreams of 70 crore mothers, sisters and daughters".
He added, "Promoting women within their own families while blocking ordinary women reflects the mindset of Congress", and claimed that the party feared that women from non-political backgrounds would enter Parliament and challenge "dynastic politics".
Vishwakarma also alleged that opposition parties had deliberately prevented the bill from securing the required majority.
"Empowering women is not a matter of power for us, but of equality and rights," he said, adding that women across the country were observing these developments.
The BJP leaders said the legislation was intended to ensure representation for women across political lines and was linked to the delimitation process to ensure balanced constituencies.
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