Jammu, 20 April (H.S.): Launching a sharp attack on the BJP over Women’s Reservation Bill, senior Congress leader and party spokesperson in J&K, Namrta Sharma termed it as a “blatant and desperate assault on democracy under the guise of women’s empowerment.”

Addressing a press conference here today, Namrta said that the failure of the bill marks a decisive rejection of the BJP’s attempt to weaponise women’s rights to push through a politically motivated restructuring of India’s electoral framework. She said that Congress has always stood unequivocally in support of women’s reservation and continues to firmly back 33% reservation in Legislative bodies.

Namrta highlighted that when in 2023 this law was passed, the entire opposition, including Congress, supported women’s reservation, reflecting a rare and clear national consensus on the issue. Despite this consensus, the BJP deliberately diluted the framework by linking implementation to census and delimitation, effectively converting an immediate constitutional commitment into an uncertain and deferred promise.

She stated that this was not about granting rights but about postponing them, ensuring that women’s reservation remains a political slogan rather than a realised constitutional guarantee.

Congress leader said that the 2026 legislative attempt exposed the BJP’s real intent, not to implement reservation, but to fundamentally alter the structure of Parliamentary representation to its advantage. She said the Congress has consistently opposed the arbitrary linkage of reservation with delimitation, emphasising that delimitation is not a neutral administrative exercise but a deeply political process capable of reshaping power equations across the country. She described the BJP’s approach as a direct, aggressive, and calculated attack on India’s federal structure.

Namrta said women’s rights were being held hostage to force acceptance of a controversial and far-reaching restructuring of the democratic framework. She said that Parliament’s refusal to pass the bill represents a significant political setback for the BJP and a major victory for the opposition and for democratic accountability.

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Hindusthan Samachar / Krishan Kumar