New Delhi [India], April 18 : In the wake of the Constitution (131st Amendment) Bill failing to pass in the Lok Sabha, BJP MP and senior leader Giriraj Singh launched a blistering attack on the Congress and its allies.
Singh accused the Opposition of historically sabotaging the empowerment of women, claiming that their resistance to the current legislation is part of a decades-long pattern of obstruction.
The Bill's failure has reignited a fierce ideological battle over the implementation of women's reservations and the legislative path toward gender parity in Indian politics.
Singh did not hold back in providing a historical timeline to support his claims, reaching back thirty years to illustrate what he described as a "consistent anti-women bias" within the current Opposition ranks.
He reminded the House that when the Deve Gowda government first introduced a similar bill in 1996, it was met with fierce opposition. Singh recalled the Atal Bihari Vajpayee administration's attempts, noting with visible frustration: "Members of this very opposition tore up the bill."
The MP argued that the recent vote is simply a modern-day repeat of these past incidents, proving that the Opposition's core stance remains unchanged.
Speaking to reporters outside parliament, Singh said, "Congress and the opposition parties have been anti-women from the very beginning. In 1996, when Deve Gowda introduced the bill, they opposed it. When Vajpayee introduced it, they opposed that as well; in fact, members of this very opposition tore up the bill."
Giriraj Singh launches attack over failed Women's Reservation Amendment Bill
During his remarks, Singh drew a sharp contrast between the evolving aspirations of the Indian public and the "stagnant" politics of the Opposition. He further asserted that the true motives of the INDI alliance had been "crystal clear" to the public, suggesting that the defeat of the Bill was a deliberate attempt to stifle the rise of women in leadership roles.
"The country has changed... They do not wish for the Women's Reservation Bill to be passed in this House, nor do they desire the empowerment of women. Your true intent has become crystal clear".
This comes as the Constitution Amendment Bill for the implementation of Women's Reservation from the 2029 general elections was defeated in the Lok Sabha earlier, with the opposition parties voting against it.
In the division that took place following the debate on the three bills, 298 members supported the bill while 230 voted against it.
With the Bill failing to secure the necessary two-thirds majority in Lok Sabha yesterday, the ruling government leaders have accused the INDIA bloc of being "anti-women" while the opposition has maintained that they suport the women's quota but opposes linking it with delimitation and census processes, claiming that the Union Government brought forth the Amendment Bill as a political ploy to "rejig" the electoral map under the guise of women reservation.
With the Bill stalled, the government is expected to take this narrative to the grassroots level, turning the legislative defeat into a major campaign talking point.
Meanwhile, the Opposition continues to argue that the Bill's current formlinked to the census and delimitationis a tactical delay by the government, rather than a genuine attempt at immediate empowerment.
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