THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Criticising the Opposition parties for the failure of the Women’s Reservation Bill, Union Minister of Consumer Affairs Pralhad Joshi said on Sunday that the Congress wants ‘family politics’ and not the weaker sections of society.
“By sabotaging the women’s reservation bill in the Lok Sabha, the Congress and the INDI alliance have betrayed the women of the country,” Joshi said at a press conference at the BJP state headquarters here.
Joshi also said the BJP had always given more representation to women.
However, upon being asked about the lower share of female ministers in the Union cabinet, he said that more ministers will come up with reservations, thereby increasing the participation of women.
“Initially, they tried to spread rumours that the seats of South India would be reduced through the bill, and thereby mislead the people of the South. We clarified this, but still they continued this misinformation campaign,” he said. Had the bill been passed, Joshi added, the representation of southern states would have increased from 23.76% to nearly 24%.
Slamming the Congress for this ‘backstabbing move’, Joshi said that the party had historically had the same ‘anti-women reservation stand’.
However, when the media asked him about the passing of the bill with the Opposition’s support in 2023, Joshi said, “In 2023, they supported the bill, but they thought that some amendments had to be brought in. After this, they spoke about the reduction of seats in some parts of the country. Without delimitation, this reservation cannot be implemented, as there is a need to decide which seats should be reserved for women,” he said.
Mentioning that the Congress does not want of weaker sections, Joshi said, “When the number of seats is increased, seats reserved for SC and ST communities will also be proportionately increased. Isn’t that common sense?” he said.