Samajwadi Party (SP) President Akhilesh Yadav on Thursday questioned the government’s "intent and haste" in rushing the three bills - on women's reservation, a Constitutional Amendment, and delimitation, in the special three-day sitting of the Parliament, contending that this was attempt to deprive the backward and margainalised women from the benefits of reservation.
Akhilesh Yadav also hurled pointed questions at the Centre over its ’nari shakti’ resolve and claimed that the BJP is converting the women’s reservation into a poll issue and trying to hijack the national cause by twisting it. Joining the marathon debate on women’s reservation and delimitation, he demanded that the Census and caste-based census in particular be conducted before the women’s reservation bill is brought into force.
Akhilesh Yadav said that his party stands wholeheartedly in support of women and it has consistently worked for their upliftment and empowerment, and went on to call out the BJP’s "poor record" of women’s representation, despite being in power in more than a dozen states.
"Our party leaders, who draw inspiration from the socialist icons like Ram Manohar Lohia, have consistently stood up for women’s rights. We are in support of women's quota but against any conspiracy to shortchange them," he stated. Showing the ruling dispensation the mirror on women empowerment claims, he said that the BJP is in power in 21 states/UTs across the country, but it must tell in how many places are the reins of power in women’s hands.
"The party which takes pride in being the world’s biggest party must see its own records on giving women equal rights and share," he said, while calling out the 'hurry and haste' in pushing through the three bills. He said that the reality is that the government wants to delay the Census and caste-based census in particular, as it is against giving reservations to backward and marginalised communities.
"The primary purpose of bringing the women’s reservation bill is to cultivate a new vote bank as they fear losing support in the upcoming elections," he added. The SP chief also claimed that the delimitation’s purpose is to distort the federal structure of the nation and give political mileage to the ruling party, citing Assam and Jammu & Kashmir as examples of "botched" procedures.
Further, claiming that the number of Legislative Assembly seats in Uttar Pradesh will cross the 500 mark after delimitation, he said that they suspect a "conspiracy" behind it. “If there is any ill-will behind the restructuring of constituencies, the BJP will stand to lose much like what happened in Ayodhya,” he said, issuing a note of caution. “We are against rotation of seats; this doesn’t bode well for democracy. We demand that there must be a Census first,” he also stated.