By Arun Pratap Singh
Garhwal Post Bureau
Dehradun, 21 Apr: Senior Congress leader and national spokesperson of Congress, Supriya Shrinate was in Dehradun today. Here, accompanied by State Congress President Ganesh Godiyal, she held a press conference at the Congress Bhawan. During the event, she launched a scathing attack on the BJP government regarding the Nari Shakti Vandan Adhiniyam.
Intensifying the political debate over the Women’s Reservation legislation, Congress leader Supriya Shrinate launched a sharp attack on Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in respect of the women reservation law. She accused the Centre and Prime Minister Narendra Modi of using the issue for political gains while undermining democratic principles. Her remarks come amid continuing exchanges between the ruling party and the Opposition following the passage of the Nari Shakti Vandan Amendment Act in Parliament.
Addressing the media during her visit to Dehradun, Shrinate, who is the chairperson of the Congress social media department and a national spokesperson, alleged that the government was playing with the country’s democracy, federal structure and Constitution in the name of women’s reservation. She claimed that the law passed in 2023 had been deliberately linked to delimitation and outdated Census data, thereby delaying its implementation. She further pointed out that the legislation does not include any provision for reservation for women belonging to the Other Backward Classes (OBC), which she described as a significant omission.
Shrinate claimed that while the Congress has consistently supported women’s reservation, it would not accept any attempt to divide the country under its guise. She claimed that the BJP has a long history of opposing women’s reservation, whereas the Congress, through the 73rd and 74th Constitutional Amendments, provided women with genuine representation. She remarked that neither an all-party meeting was convened nor was any comprehensive discussion held on such a critical issue, thereby raising serious questions regarding the government’s intentions.
Targeting the Central Government, Supriya Shrinate asserted that Manipur has been burning for the past three years, yet the Central Government remains silent. The women there have been forced to take to the streets.
She further added that, when it comes to the safety and dignity of the nation’s women, the government has proven to be a complete failure. She alleged that the measure was not genuinely aimed at empowering women but was instead a strategy to alter the political map of the country and weaken constitutional safeguards. Taking a dig at the PM, she said that on issues concerning the safety and dignity of women, including incidents such as those reported from Unnao, Hathras, cases involving women athletes and the Ankita Bhandari case in Uttarakhand, the Prime Minister had remained silent rather than ensuring justice.
Shrinate further claimed that the government’s primary objective was to derive political advantage through delimitation rather than to ensure immediate representation for women. Reiterating the Congress party’s position, Shrinate said that one-third reservation for women should be implemented immediately across all 543 Lok Sabha seats, which would enable the election of 181 women Members of Parliament. She maintained that, if the government were to implement such a provision without delay, the Congress would fully support it.
Continuing her criticism, Shrinate alleged that the PM was deflecting the issue and had become the biggest obstacle to the effective implementation of women’s reservation. She claimed that had the government been serious about the matter, women would have already begun receiving reservation benefits. Instead, she alleged, the government sought to introduce delimitation through what she termed ‘undemocratic means’ under the cover of reservation, a move she said had now been exposed.
Uttarakhand Congress President Ganesh Godiyal stated that, if Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami convenes a special session of the Legislative Assembly to introduce a proposal for women’s reservation, the Congress party will extend its full cooperation.
He further added that, if following the delimitation exercise, his own assembly constituency is reserved for a woman, he would happily step aside and yield his seat to a female candidate. Empowering women is a firm commitment.
Present at the press conference were Chief Spokesperson Garima Mehra Dasauni, National Coordinator for Social Media Sardar Amarjit Singh, and State Spokespersons Abhinav Thapar and Sheeshpal Singh Bisht.
