BJP never intended to ensure that women receive rightful representation: Priyanka Chaturvedi

New Delhi: Following the failure of the Constitution (131st Amendment) Bill in the Lok Sabha, former Shiv Sena-UBT MP Priyanka Chaturvedi said on Saturday that the people are seeing what the Union government’s agenda is, adding that “BJP never intended to ensure that women receive their rightful representation”.

Reacting to the development, Chaturvedi said that the public is now clearly able to see the Union government’s intentions.

“The public is seeing what the agenda is. The agenda is that you do not want to give women reservation. The agenda is that you are trying to link one issue with another and suggesting that only after increasing the number of seats, will space be created for women,” she told IANS.

She reiterated that the Women’s Reservation Bill passed in 2023 should be delinked from the census and delimitation processes and implemented within the existing framework.

“I will say it again, what you passed in 2023 should be separated from census and delimitation. Implement the Women’s Reservation Bill within the existing seats. Only then will women understand your political will,” the Shiv Sena-UBT leader said.

Chaturvedi also added that the entire Opposition is united on the issue and challenged the Union government to bring the amendments again in the upcoming Monsoon session of Parliament.

“The Opposition stands united on this matter. I ask the government whether it will pass these amendments in the next Parliament session. Only then should such rallies and sloganeering take place. The public is aware and understands the situation,” she said.

Recalling the passage of the 2023 law, she added that it had received broad consensus in Parliament and aimed to provide 33 per cent reservation to women.

“At that time as well, we had urged the Union government not to link the Bill to delimitation and the census. Our concerns were ignored, but in the spirit of ensuring women’s rights, we extended our full support,” Chaturvedi said.

She also criticised the Union government for not demonstrating commitment during the 2024 general elections.

“You did not allocate 33 per cent tickets to women, nor did you show the required political will. Instead, you deferred implementation to 2029. We had asked for immediate implementation within the existing 543 seats,” she said.

Reiterating her stance, Chaturvedi noted that the Opposition had consistently demanded reservation within the current seat structure in Lok Sabha.

“If the government truly has the intent to empower women, it should allocate one-third of seats to them now and direct its alliance partners to do the same. The Women’s Reservation Bill must be delinked from other legislative measures. In my view, the BJP never intended to ensure that women receive their rightful representation,” she said.

IANS