New Delhi [India], April 19 : Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) spokesperson Shehzad Poonawala accused Telangana Chief Minister Revanth Reddy of repeatedly targeting Prime Minister Narendra Modi, alleging that the Congress was disrespecting constitutional positions following the failure of the Women's Reservation Amendment Bill in the Lok Sabha.
Speaking to ANI, Poonawala said the Congress had a history of attacking the Prime Minister. "Congress has abused the Prime Minister 150 times... after defeating women's reservation in Parliament, now Revanth Reddy, a serial offender who has abused Sanatan, who has said Congress means Muslims, is abusing the Prime Minister because he stands with women. This shows that Congress does not respect any constitutional position," he said.
This comes after Reddy's criticism of the Centre after the Constitution (One Hundred and Thirty-First Amendment) Bill failed to secure a two-thirds majority in the Lok Sabha. Addressing a press conference, the Telangana Chief Minister claimed that the opposition had helped "defeat the bill that was raised to destroy the country", alleging that the BJP used women's reservation as a pretext to expand Lok Sabha seats and secure a two-thirds majority.
"BJP's intention was not clean. These bills were presented as a mask to increase the seats. There was no need to present the other bills to implement women's reservation," Reddy said. He further alleged that linking the Bill with delimitation was aimed at increasing seats to around 850, enabling the ruling party to gain the numbers required to alter constitutional provisions.
Reddy argued that women's reservation could be implemented within the existing 543 Lok Sabha seats without fresh delimitation. "On Monday, bring a new Bill for women's reservation. We will support it... The entire process could be completed within six months," he said, adding that the INDIA alliance was ready to extend full support if the legislation was brought without "hidden intentions".
He also cautioned against creating regional divisions, urging the Centre not to "create a divide between North India and South". Reddy emphasised the need for broader consultations involving opposition parties and civil society before introducing any major electoral reforms.
Earlier on Friday, the Constitution (One Hundred and Thirty-First Amendment) Bill was defeated in the Lok Sabha, where it secured 298 votes in favour and 230 against, falling short of the required two-thirds majority. Following the outcome, Union Minister Kiren Rijiju stated that the two related bills, the Delimitation Bill and the Union Territories Laws (Amendment) Bill, would not be pursued further.
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