Lucknow,

April 15 (HS): On Wednesday, Samajwadi Party president Akhilesh Yadav stated

that his party supports women's reservation but accuses the BJP of promoting it

with a hidden goal that marginalizes backward class women and avoids

caste-based censuses. His statements came the day before a three-day

extraordinary session of Parliament to consider the women's quota and

delimitation proposals. The BJP in Uttar Pradesh is also working to raise

public knowledge of the Nari Shakti Vandan Adhiniyam, better known as the

Women's Reservation Act.

In

a post on X, Yadav, the head of the third largest party in the Lok Sabha,

stated, We support women's reservation but reject the BJP's deceptive

action, which is being carried out as part of a plot. He

claimed that the ruling party and its supporters were mute on providing proper

representation to women from Other Backward Classes (OBCs), who constitute a

sizable proportion of the population. According to former Uttar Pradesh chief

minister, the BJP and its partners remain mute on the largest segment of the

population: backward class women.

Yadav

questioned the timing and urgency of the action, claiming that the hurry

demonstrated in the name of amendment is actually aimed at avoiding a census

since if a census is done, caste-wise data must be given, and caste-based

reservation will follow. The Kannauj Lok Sabha MP described it as a big plot to

deny rights to backward people by opposing census-based delimitation, and said

that political parties should be given the freedom to impose reservation based

on proportional representation.

This

is a covert scheme by secret persons to undermine democracy, which cannot be

allowed unless reforms are implemented, he continued. In a separate tweet

earlier in the day, Yadav tightened his criticism, claiming that the BJP's

hurry over the women's reservation law demonstrated political desperation. He

said the party was aiming to prevent a countrywide census, which may lead to

calls for caste enumeration and enhanced quota, which the BJP and its partners

refused to accept. Referring to the SP's 'PDA' (Pichhda, Dalit, Alpsankhyak)

platform, he said that the A also signifies aadhi abaadi

(half the population), which means women, and that the law was part of a bigger

scheme to limit their rights.

Hindusthan Samachar / Abhishek Awasthi