BENGALURU: Union Minister of State for MSME Shoba Karandlaje on Saturday held opposition parties in the Lok Sabha responsible for the defeat of the women’s reservation bill.
Addressing BJP women members at Freedom Park here, she said the Indian National Developmental Inclusive Alliance (INDIA) led by the Congress, systematically conspired to mislead the people stating that injustice will be done to South India in the proposed delimitation of constituencies and used this as a tool to defeat the women’s reservation bill. The move of the alliance is to create a north-south division, she alleged.
“Karnataka, which has 28 Lok Sabha constituencies, will get 14 more, taking the total number of LS seats to 42. Kerala, which has 20 seats, and will get 10 more. Similarly, Tamil Nadu, which has 39 seats, will get 39 more. This (delimitation) exercise will benefit South India. But the Congress-led alliance defeated the women’s reservation bill using the delimitation exercise as an excuse,” Karandlaje said.
Stating that the women’s reservation bill was passed in the Lok Sabha in 2023, she said the LS has only 543 seats. The proposal is to increase this number to 850 for fair distribution of reservation. “I am confident that this bill will be passed in the coming days,” she added.
Sushaleemma, Padmashree awardee from Sumangali Sevaashrama, appealed to women in the state to launch a struggle for 33% reservation.