Oppn's ‘regressive mindset’ defeated women’s quota Bill, says Fadnavis

Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis on Monday slammed the Opposition for blocking the women's quota Bill, alleging that their ''regressive mindset'' had dashed hopes of a historic moment for women's representation in India. Addressing a press conference, Fadnavis announced that the ruling Mahayuti alliance will now launch a massive outreach campaign to collect one crore signatures from women across the state, aiming to build a ''people's mandate'' and expose the Opposition's anti-women stance. He said that April 17 was expected to mark a watershed moment in the country's political and social journey, with the 'Nari Shakti Vandan Adhiniyam, providing 33 per cent reservation to women in assemblies and Lok Sabha, set to be passed in Parliament. Fadnavis accused the Opposition parties of affecting the ''foeticide'' of women's rights in elected bodies. ''The Opposition murdered the women's quota Bill due to their regressive mindset,'' he said. He noted that if the BJP had had a two-thirds majority, the Opposition would have supported the Bill now, but they saw an opportunity as the ruling front fell short of numbers. A Constitution Amendment Bill to implement reservation for women in legislatures in 2029 and increase the number of Lok Sabha seats was defeated on April 17 in the Lower House. While 298 members voted in support of the Bill, 230 MPs voted against it. Out of 528 members who voted, the Bill required 352 votes for a two-thirds majority. The chief minister alleged that the Congress's ''urban Naxal mindset'' was such that it opposes anything that goes against its political interests. He noted that to address concerns of the southern states, the BJP-led government had assured a 50 per cent increase in existing seats, which would have increased the representation of these regions from 23.76 per cent to 23.87 per cent. The representation of Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes would have also gone up, he said. ''I give an open challenge to the Opposition to appoint someone of my level to debate what was wrong in their argument against the Bill,'' he said. Fadnavis said the legislation was tied to the implementation of women's reservation through a delimitation exercise based on census data. With the census delayed due to the COVID-19 pandemic, he said the timeline for implementation could stretch beyond 2027, and to address this, the proposal sought to rely on earlier census figures so that the reservation could be rolled out without further delay. The chief minister asserted that efforts would now be made to build public support for women's reservation, including outreach and awareness campaigns. ''We will create a people's mandate in favour of women's quota till the Bill is passed, and we will expose the Congress's anti-women mindset,'' he said. Fadnavis accused the Opposition of taking a ''sudden U-turn'' on the women's reservation issue, saying their objections to the legislation were politically motivated. Responding to Congress leader Priyanka Gandhi's criticism, Fadnavis said the Bill's implementation is constitutionally linked to the completion of a census and subsequent delimitation of constituencies. He pointed out that the original roadmap envisaged the completion of the census by 2024, followed by delimitation and implementation of the reservation by 2029. However, due to delays in conducting the census, the government proposed a ''limited technical adjustment'' by relying on earlier population data to initiate the process. ''A similar approach was adopted earlier when delimitation was carried out based on the 2001 census. The Opposition is fully aware of these provisions but is still opposing for political reasons,'' Fadnavis said. The chief minister dismissed Gandhi's charge that the move diverts attention from a caste census, saying the two issues are unrelated. Caste enumeration among the Other Backward Classes (OBCs) would be undertaken as part of the broader census exercise, he said, claiming that previous Congress-led governments had not conducted such an exercise. Fadnavis also rejected concerns raised by some regional parties, particularly from southern states, that delimitation could disproportionately benefit northern states. Any increase in Lok Sabha seats would be proportionate across states and would not disadvantage any region, he said. The BJP leader further alleged that the Congress had failed to implement women's reservation when it had the required parliamentary strength, and noted that political parties had not ensured adequate representation to women on their own, necessitating constitutional intervention. ''Despite political risks, the government has moved forward to ensure justice for women,'' he added.