HYDERABAD: After the Lok Sabha could not pass the Women’s Reservation Bill, as the ruling NDA fell short of a two-thirds majority required for the purpose on Friday, Chief Minister A Revanth Reddy said, “Today will be remembered forever as a red-letter day in Indian history, when under the leadership of Rahul Gandhi, Leader of the Opposition in Lok Sabha, and Mallikarjun Kharge, all democratic forces and Opposition leaders united in averting a national disaster.”
“I thank leaders of various allied parties who united and stood steadfast under fire to defeat these ‘black bills’, including MK Stalin, Mamata Banerjee, Akhilesh Yadav, Sharad Pawar, Uddhav Thackeray, Lalu Prasad Yadav, Hemant Soren, Farooq Abdullah, Naveen Patnaik, Arvind Kejriwal, and the leaders of the Communist parties, among others,” he posted on X.
BRS working president KT Rama Rao said the ruling party was entirely responsible for the setback.
Former MLC K Kavitha said the BJP had cheated women yet again. State BJP president N Ramchander Rao said the defeat of the bill was a testament to INDIA bloc’s opposition to women’s empowerment in the country.
Cong against women quota: Ramchander
BJP state president N Ramchander Rao, in a statement on Friday, condemned the ‘historical mistake’ committed by the Congress, saying that its politics had blocked reforms and exposed its mindset against women.
He alleged that the Congress had never wanted to see a woman holding a top position and had never been interested in women’s empowerment since its inception. He further alleged that the Congress was a dynastic party and had never supported any woman outside the Gandhi family since the time of Jawaharlal Nehru.
When a bill was introduced in Parliament to empower women by providing 33 percent representation in legislative bodies for the nation’s development, the Congress opposed and blocked it, Rao alleged.
The BJP state president further alleged that the INDIA alliance, led by Congress, was responsible for the defeat of the women’s reservation bill. He also said that the Congress had never wanted to give opportunities to ordinary people in politics and was interested only in promoting members of the Gandhi family.