BJP was trying to turn 'nari' into 'nara': SP chief Akhilesh Yadav attacks Centre over women's reservation

Lucknow (Uttar Pradesh) [India], April 19 : Samajwadi Party (SP) chief Akhilesh Yadav on Sunday reiterated his jibe against the BJP-ruled Central government accusing them of attempting to reduce nari (women) to a mere nara (slogan) with the Constitution (131st Amendment) Bill, 2026,

The Constitution (131st Amendment) Bill, 2026 had sought to redistribute Lok Sabha seats on basis of the 2011 Census to expedite the implementation of women's reservation. The Bill failed to secure the two-thirds majority required for a constitutional amendment.

The SP chief alleged that the Bill, which linked women's reservation to delimitation, was brought with an intention to divide society and mislead women, while claiming that opposition unity had defeated the government's "ill intent" in Parliament.

Addressing a press conference in Lucknow today, Yadav said the Bill was introduced to divert attention from growing public anger against the government. He said, "BJP was trying to turn 'nari' (women) into 'nara' (slogan) through the so-called Women's Reservation Bill." He had said this during the debate over the bill in Paliament too.

Yadav further alleged that the defeat of the Bill reflected public sentiment against the ruling party. "The defeat of this Bill is the defeat of the BJP. This is also the defeat of the BJP's ill intent," he said.

Yadav accused the BJP of using legislation for political gains, stating, "BJP's all attempts and Bills are either about benefiting a few or about dividing society. Through this Bill, the BJP wanted to fracture women's unity and deceive them, but opposition unity foiled their plan."

Yadav claimed that the government's approach was aimed at controlling narratives rather than empowering women. "They had brought this so-called Women's Reservation Bill only to hide public anger. The delimitation Bill was against women and was brought to divide women, who make up half the population," he said.

Questioning the intent behind the legislation, Yadav added, "The party that has not given rights to women within itself, how will it give 33% rights to women in the country?"

He further said the Opposition was not against women's reservation but had objected to the government's intent. "We were not against the Women's Reservation Bill, but their intention was wrong; that is why we opposed it," Yadav said.

On the issue of representation, he added, "If delimitation is based on the 2011 population data, how will women get their rightful representation?"

Yadav also alleged that the Bill was rushed to avoid a caste census, claiming it would have revealed full demographic data, ''The real purpose of bringing this bill in a hurry was to avoid conducting a census. If a census is conducted, all caste data will have to be revealed."

The proposed Bill aimed to introduce a 55 per cent reservation within the existing 543 Lok Sabha seats and extend similar provisions to State Assemblies, Delhi, and Union Territories, including Puducherry and Jammu and Kashmir.

The Constitution Amendment Bill failed to secure the required two-thirds majority in the Lok Sabha on Friday. It received 298 votes in favour and 230 against.

After the Bill was defeated, the government said it would not pursue the two other linked bills.

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