Bengaluru, April 18 (IANS) Union Minister for Heavy Industries and Steel, H.D. Kumaraswamy, on Saturday accused the Congress of maintaining an “anti-women mindset,” alleging that the party has obstructed efforts to implement women’s reservation in legislatures through the Women’s Reservation Bill. However, Karnataka Home Minister G. Parameshwara countered the allegations by pointing out that “during the tenure of former Prime Minister late Manmohan Singh, the Congress introduced the Women’s Reservation Bill.”

Drawing a comparison between 1996 and 2026, Kumaraswamy said that history appears to be repeating itself, with the Congress and its allies once again opposing measures aimed at ensuring 33 per cent reservation for women in Parliament and State Assemblies.

Referring to the United Front Government led by former Prime Minister H.D. Deve Gowda in 1996, Kumaraswamy said a historic step had been taken at the time to introduce a Bill providing 33 per cent reservation for women. However, he alleged that the effort was derailed by the Congress and its allies.

He further claimed that the present government, under Prime Minister Narendra Modi, has taken a decisive step to correct what he termed a “historic injustice,” but is again facing resistance from the Congress.

Kumaraswamy said that those who have repeatedly opposed the Women’s Reservation Bill would not be forgiven by the “Nari Shakti” of the country, calling such opposition an affront to women.

Appealing to women across the country, he urged them not to lose hope and expressed confidence that the goal of 33 per cent reservation for women would be achieved under the leadership of Prime Minister Modi.

Meanwhile, commenting on the BJP’s charge that the Congress is anti-women in the backdrop of its opposition to the Women’s Reservation Bill, Home Minister G. Parameshwara said, “First, I want to make it clear that the Congress party is not opposed to the Women’s Reservation Bill. During the tenure of former Prime Minister late Manmohan Singh, we were the first in the country to introduce the Women’s Reservation Bill.”

“There is no question of Congress leaders opposing the Women’s Reservation Bill. The current Union government, while bringing the Women’s Reservation Bill, has linked it to increasing the number of Lok Sabha seats,” he stated.

“The Lok Sabha, which currently has 543 seats, is proposed to be expanded to around 850 seats. Shouldn’t there have been a discussion on this? The government should have taken the Opposition parties into confidence and held a proper debate. If that had been done before introducing the Bill in the Lok Sabha, it might have been passed,” he questioned.

“All Opposition parties, including the Congress, would have given their suggestions. Instead, by clubbing the proposal to increase Lok Sabha seats with the Women’s Reservation Bill, it has not been done in the right spirit, nor is it a good parliamentary tradition,” Parameshwara stated.

“Hence, the Bill was defeated by 54 votes for these reasons. If the intention was truly to implement women’s reservation, the government should have consulted the Opposition, taken them into confidence, and discussed every aspect of the Bill,” he stated.

“If the Women’s Reservation Bill is brought without linking it to delimitation, a solution may be found. This is my opinion,” he stated.

–IANS

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