NEW DELHI: The All India Mahila Congress today announced a nationwide postcard campaign demanding the immediate implementation of 33 per cent reservation for women on the existing 543 Lok Sabha seats under the Women’s Reservation Act, 2023.
The campaign, scheduled for May-June, will see around one million women sending postcards to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, urging the government to bring a special proposal in the upcoming Monsoon Session of Parliament to enforce the quota, including provisions for SC, ST and OBC women.
Addressing a press conference in the national capital, Mahila Congress president Alka Lamba, SC Department chairman Rajendra Pal Gautam and OBC Department chairman Anil Jaihind criticised the BJP for delaying the implementation. They also flagged the rise in crimes against women in BJP-ruled states.
Lamba accused the BJP of misleading the public on women’s reservation and said the Congress is exposing its false claims. She reiterated the party’s demand for immediate implementation and referred to earlier protests held at Jantar Mantar.
Highlighting the Congress’s stance on women’s empowerment, Alka Lamba said the party had demonstrated its commitment by giving 40 per cent tickets to women in the 2022 Uttar Pradesh Assembly elections under Priyanka Gandhi’s leadership. She added that Congress has consistently fought to secure women’s representation in Legislative Assemblies and the Lok Sabha.
Gautam termed the BJP government “anti-women,” citing NCRB data that showed a 31 per cent rise in crimes against women between 2014 and 2022. He alleged a higher incidence of such crimes in BJP-ruled states and raised concerns over the underutilisation of the Nirbhaya Fund.
Anil Jaihind questioned the law-and-order situation in Uttar Pradesh, alleging injustice against Dalit and backward-class women. Raising the issue of the rape and murder of a young woman from the Vishwakarma community in Ghazipur, he stated that a ‘Manuvadi’ system has come to dominate in UP in place of the Constitution.
He demanded that the case be investigated by a special CBI team under the supervision of a judge of the Allahabad High Court, report be submitted within 30 days, and the perpetrators be given the strictest possible punishment.
He also reiterated his demand for the enactment of a law to prevent atrocities against the Extremely Backward Classes.