Pune, Aug 31 (IANS) Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis on Monday targeted Rahul Gandhi, Sonia Gandhi, the Congress party, and other opposition parties over their position on women’s reservation and delimitation.

Accusing Rahul Gandhi and Congress of maintaining a double standard on women’s empowerment, he alleged that Sonia Gandhi reacted strongly during the recital of the national song.

Speaking at the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) State Executive meeting in Pune, CM Fadnavis said, “Today, if there is an ultimate symbol of matriarchy, it is the song Vande Mataram. But as soon as it began, Soniaji started expressing outrage and had it stopped. This is the same Vande Mataram that numerous freedom fighters sang as they went to the gallows without fear. Yet, those who call this country patriarchal feel pricked when Vande Mataram is recited.”

Questioning Congress’s internal dynamics, CM Fadnavis added, “My question to the Congress party and Rahul Gandhi is: when the time came to give opportunities to women, why was Priyanka Gandhi not given the opportunity? Rahul Gandhi and his mother will have to answer this.”

Fadnavis further questioned the representation of women in Congress-governed states, asking why there were no women ministers in their cabinets.

“On one hand, they talk about women, but on the other hand, during Rajiv Gandhi’s tenure, when the Supreme Court ruled that Muslim women have the right to alimony and cannot be arbitrarily divorced, Congress amended the law in Parliament to overturn the apex court’s judgment. Where were women’s rights then? Today, if they cannot find a single woman to include in the cabinets of Himachal Pradesh or Karnataka, they have no right to come here and make grand statements about women,” he remarked.

The Chief Minister went on to label Rahul Gandhi and INDIA bloc partners as the “true killers of women’s reservation.”

Addressing Congress’s current stance on the Women’s Reservation Bill and delimitation, CM Fadnavis pointed out that the opposition had previously voted in favour of the legislation introduced by Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s government.

“Prime Minister Modi enacted a law to provide reservations for women in the Lok Sabha and State Assemblies. When this bill was introduced in 2023, it contained two specific conditions: providing 33% reservation for women, based on census data, followed by delimitation based on those figures. My question to Rahul Gandhi, Supriya Sule, and other opposition figures is did the law you voted for in 2023 mention delimitation or not? It did,” Fadnavis asserted.

He further stated that the opposition unanimously agreed to the sequence of census and delimitation before implementing the reservation.

“You voted for the bill because you knew the NDA had a two-thirds majority, and it would have passed regardless. You simply voted for it to jump on the bandwagon,” he said.

Addressing India’s energy scenario, CM Fadnavis highlighted the nation’s current dependence on foreign oil imports but expressed confidence in achieving complete self-reliance by 2030.

“India is currently fully dependent on other countries for petrol and diesel,” CM Fadnavis stated. “However, I am confident that by 2030, 50% of the country’s fuel requirement will be fulfilled by our farmers (via biofuels), while the remaining 50% will be met through Electric Vehicles (EVs)”.

Connecting energy self-reliance to broader geopolitical dynamics, he asserted that India is rapidly transitioning into a self-reliant global power under Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s leadership. He noted that India has already emerged as the world’s fourth-largest economy and no longer depends on other nations for weaponry.

“Certain global forces do not want to see a self-reliant India,” he claimed. “They realise that if India is not stopped now, it will become unstoppable. Consequently, their tactics have changed. Today, among those being utilised by hostile forces, barely 5% are aware that they are being exploited, knowingly aiding such elements.”

Drawing historical parallels to Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj, CM Fadnavis remarked, “Shivaji Maharaj taught us how to fight. When his army entered the battlefield, they rallied around the war cry of ‘Har Har Mahadev’. Once again, a similar confrontation is approaching. The aggressors are not new, the conflict is not new—only their methodology has evolved.”

Fadnavis called for a strategic understanding of the opposition’s political methods, comparing the current political landscape to historical defence strategies. “Whenever enemies launched multi-pronged attacks on Swarajya, Shivaji Maharaj eliminated them using guerrilla tactics and intelligence networks,” he noted.

Clarifying his position, he added, “I will not call the opposition ‘enemies,’ but they are adopting new tactics. We must understand these tactics thoroughly.”

Addressing the ongoing debate regarding the use of high-decibel DJ sound systems during the upcoming Ganesh festival, the Chief Minister made a strong appeal to the residents of Pune. With rising demands from various sections to ban DJ systems due to noise pollution concerns, CM Fadnavis steered clear of getting entangled in the operational dispute, opting instead to urge Pune’s citizens to set a benchmark.

Fadnavis said, “When I step out of this meeting, the media will inevitably ask me whether DJs should be allowed during Ganeshotsav in Pune. But I want to tell the people of Pune. “Pune alone possesses the capability to celebrate this festival in a purely traditional and cultural manner. This is something only Punekars can achieve,” he said.

He appealed to the citizens and local mandals to avoid the controversy surrounding DJ systems and instead show the rest of Maharashtra how Ganeshotsav can be celebrated with traditional grandiosity and cultural richness.

–IANS

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