HYDERABAD: Minister of State for Labour & Employment and MSMEs Shobha Karandlaje on Sunday slammed the Congress and the INDIA bloc for “betraying” both women and southern states by stalling key legislations on women’s reservation and delimitation of constituencies in Parliament.
Addressing a press conference at the BJP office, along with the party’s state unit president N Ramchander Rao and MP DK Aruna, she termed April 17 as a “black day” in history and alleged that the opposition bloc led by Rahul Gandhi had “deceived” women and the southern states.
She said the Centre had introduced the women’s reservation Bill to ensure 33 per cent representation for women in legislatures, along with delimitation reforms aimed at safeguarding the interests of southern states.
Karandlaje said that Union Home Minister Amit Shah had proposed increasing seats by 50 per cent for all states and even offered to introduce a revised Bill within an hour, but the opposition rejected the proposal. She claimed this move was aimed at preventing regional imbalances and ensuring fairness to southern states.
Highlighting the Centre’s record on women empowerment, she said several initiatives over the past decade had benefitted women, including a majority share in Mudra loans and MSME subsidies. She added that the government had expanded self-help group initiatives, transforming millions of women into financially independent contributors.
The MoS also criticised the Congress for what she described as “dynastic politics”, alleging that opportunities for women in the party were limited to a single family as only Indira Gandhi, Sonia Gandhi and Priyanka Gandhi got opportunities.
She further accused the Telangana government, led by Chief Minister A Revanth Reddy, of failing to implement poll promises, including financial assistance for women, scooters for students and unemployment benefits.