BHUBANESWAR: Chief Minister Mohan Charan Majhi on Wednesday launched a scathing attack on Congress and its alliance partners for stalling of the Women’s Reservation Bill, warning that the resulting public outrage will intensify across the state.
Addressing the ‘Jana Aakrosh Mahila Samabesha’ organised by the party to protest the alleged obstruction of the Women’s Reservation Bill in Parliament, Majhi said the issue was not merely the defeat of a bill but the crushing of the dreams of women who constituted 50 per cent of India’s population.
He accused Opposition parties of denying women their constitutional rights for narrow political interests and asserted that the anger generated would politically marginalise them. Majhi said women continue to place their trust in PM Modi’s leadership and that 33 per cent reservation in legislatures will be achieved.
Deputy chief minister Pravati Parida said that the proposed legislation will strengthen women’s participation in politics and governance. She alleged that parties like Congress and others have historically used women as a vote bank while failing to ensure real empowerment. Women of the state will not forgive those who opposed the bill, she added.
Echoing similar sentiments, deputy chief minister Kanak Vardhan Singh Deo said empowering women remains central to the government’s agenda. Inclusive governance cannot be achieved without adequate representation of women in decision-making bodies. State BJP president Manmohan Samal strongly condemned the Opposition’s stance, stating that the people of the country will not pardon those who obstructed women’s rights. He announced that the protest movement will be expanded to district, mandal, and booth levels in the coming days.
The programme was attended by ministers Prithiviraj Harichandan, Rabi Narayan Naik, Nityananda Gond, Gokulananda Mallik, among others.