New Delhi, 18 April (H.S.): Delhi Chief Minister Rekha Gupta has accused the Congress and all other opposition parties of being openly opposed to granting rights and representation to women, branding their politics as “anti‑women.”

Speaking at the Confederation of All India Traders’ (CAIT) Hindi Bhawan here on Saturday during a two‑day conference, she tied a black ribbon along with more than 400 women entrepreneurs to symbolically protest what she called the opposition’s “anti‑women agenda.”

Addressing the gathering, Rekha Gupta said Prime Minister Narendra Modi had introduced the Nari Shakti Vandana Adhiniyam to give daughters of the country a stronger role in nation‑building, but regretted that some parties viewed this historic opportunity through the narrow lens of partisan politics. “They did not hesitate to oppose women’s rights themselves,” she said, targeting those parties that blocked the Women’s Reservation Bill in Parliament.

The Chief Minister argued that the arguments put forward by the opponents lacked any substantive basis and that only a deeply “anti‑women mentality” was visible behind their stance. She urged women in the constituencies of those leaders who opposed the bill to demand answers from them directly, implying that the electorate would hold such politicians accountable at the grassroots.

Rekha Gupta asserted that India had entered a new era: “the country has changed; women’s power will no longer wait in expectation—it will claim its rights.” She framed the black‑ribbon demonstration as a collective message from women entrepreneurs and citizens that they would no longer tolerate policies or politics that undermine gender‑inclusive representation.

The two‑day CAIT conference, attended by over 400 women entrepreneurs, was also addressed by BJP MP and national general secretary of CAIT, Praveen Khandelwal, who stood with the Chief Minister at the event. Khandelwal, in a social‑media post on X, said that the women entrepreneurs had “strongly protested” against the Congress by tying black ribbons along with the Chief Minister, calling the Congress “the biggest enemy of women’s power.”

He claimed that by obstructing the Women’s Reservation Bill in the Lok Sabha, the Congress had once again exposed its “anti‑woman conspiracy” and that daughters of the country would no longer stay silent about it.

Hindusthan Samachar / Jun Sarkar