Shivamogga
Karnataka KPCC spokesperson Bhavya Narasimhamurthy alleged that the BJP was responsible for the failure of the women’s reservation bill in Parliament, speaking at a press conference held in Shivamogga.
She claimed that if the BJP had genuine concern for women’s empowerment, it would have ensured reservation within the existing 543 Lok Sabha seats. Instead, she alleged, the party introduced additional proposals such as constituency delimitation to delay the bill’s implementation.
Bhavya Narasimhamurthy stated that under the current structure, the reservation would have ensured 179 women MPs, but according to her, the BJP feared losing seats of its male parliamentarians. She alleged that this was the reason the bill was not allowed to progress smoothly.
She further said that women’s reservation was originally envisioned by former Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi, who introduced reservation for women in local bodies. She added that when the 2023 women’s reservation bill was introduced by the NDA government, the Congress supported it without conditions.
However, she questioned why the required notification for implementation has still not been issued. She accused the BJP leadership, including Prime Minister Narendra Modi, of misleading the public and delaying enforcement despite having full parliamentary strength.
She also alleged that the bill was introduced without proper consultation with opposition parties and criticised the process followed during its passage.
The Congress leader announced that the party’s women’s wing will hold press conferences across all districts to create public awareness about the issue, followed by protests against the BJP. Party leaders present at the event included district and state women’s wing representatives and senior Congress functionaries.