In a move aimed to “expose the treachery” of the Narendra Modi government at the Centre over the Women’s Reservation Bill passed in the Parliament last week, Congress has planned to hold press conferences in 21 major cities across the country today.
The press conferences will be done by 21 women leaders of Congress in 21 cities, according to the party.
This comes following the criticism of the government over the Women’s Reservation Bill, which gives 33 per cent reservation to the women in Parliament and Assemblies, in which the Opposition demanded the provision of reservation to the OBC women. It is also being speculated that the Act will come into force only in 2029, or even later than it. However, the Opposition parties voted in favour of the Bill as it is in both Houses of the Parliament.
The Congress party has now decided to oppose the Bill for which it will address several press conferences.
According to Congress, the party will “expose” the Modi government over the issue.
“21 Cities. 21 Women leaders. 1 Agenda - to expose the treachery by the Modi govt in the name of Women’s Reservation Bill,” Congress leader Pawan Khera posted on X, formerly.
The Congress leader also shared a list of the women leaders who will hold press conferences across the country today.
List of 21 leaders released
MP Rajni Patil will hold a press conference in Ahmedabad, while Mahila Congress chief Netta D'Souza will hold a press conference in Hyderabad. According to party leaders, Ranjit Ranjan will hold a press conference in Bhubaneswar, Alka Lamba in Jaipur, Ami Yagnik in Mumbai, Ragini Nayak in Ranchi and Shama Mohammed in Srinagar. See the complete list here-
Sonia, Rahul Gandhi raise questions
Congress leader Sonia Gandhi, while supporting the Women's Reservation Bill, had pointed out several flaws in it.
“We support this bill but we are also concerned. Indian women have been waiting for their responsibilities for 13 years. Now they are being asked to wait for a few more years. How many years will they have to wait? Is this behavior correct?” she had said.
Sonia Gandhi had said that this bill should be implemented immediately but along with it, caste census should be conducted and reservation should be given to women of SC-ST, OBC category.
Rahul Gandhi also slammed the government over the Bill terming it a diversion tactic and said that the Act can be implemented immediately.
"Women's reservation is a good thing, but we found two footnotes - one is that the Census will have to be done before implementation and the second is delimitation. It will take several years to get this done. The truth is that 33 per cent reservation can be given to women in Parliament and state Assemblies today itself, it's not a complicated matter," Gandhi said.
Speaking further, the Wayanad MP said that the government has presented this before the country but it will take 10 years for its implementation. "Nobody knows if this will even be implemented. This is a distraction tactic, diversion tactic," he alleged.
Women’s Reservation Bill
Parliament passed the historic Women's Reservation Bill on Thursday (September 21). The bill, to reserve one-third of seats in the Lok Sabha and state assemblies for women, received the Parliamentary nod after the Rajya Sabha voted unanimously in favour of it. Unlike the Lok Sabha, where two of the 456 MPs present in the House had voted against the bill, all the 214 lawmakers in the Rajya Sabha voted in its favour on Thursday.
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