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NEW DELHI: Following the failure of the Women’s Reservation Amendment Bill in Parliament, a race has begun between the government and the opposition to call each other “misogynistic”. In this initial phase, the BJP appears to be clearly in the lead while the opposition appears to be lagging behind. This is mainly because the BJP and the government have been consistently campaigning and raising the issue of women empowerment in the last few days. Since the bill’s failure, the party has taken an even more aggressive stance. The BJP has decided to launch a nationwide campaign and hit the streets to inform the general public that the Congress – and indeed the entire opposition – is misogynistic. From Prime Minister Narendra Modi on down, all party leaders have started targeting the opposition at their election rallies over the issue of women’s reservation. Essentially, the BJP has already started wooing the “other half of the population” in preparation for the upcoming elections.
On the other hand, confusion continues to reign in the opposition ranks. Initially, reports emerged that the opposition planned to meet Prime Minister Narendra Modi to demand implementation of the 33 percent reservation within the existing 543 parliamentary seats and submit a memorandum to this effect. However, Priyanka Gandhi – the party’s general secretary who has fronted for the Congress – dismissed these reports. She made it clear that no concrete strategy has yet been formulated. She said: “Our demand is that the government grant women a 33% share of seats in the existing 543 seats for the 2029 general elections. If this requires legislative changes, these should be made and the opposition will extend its support.” However, in the same breath she also spoke of implementing the 2023 law in 2029. When asked that the 2023 law expressly stipulates that delimitation (redistribution of seats) should only take place after a new census has been carried out, she also appeared confused on this point. Will the party start a movement? What will the future strategy look like? Priyanka couldn’t give any answers. During the hastily called press conference, Priyanka seemed to be in a hurry to attend her husband Robert Vadra’s birthday bash; She even mentioned that it was actually her husband’s birthday that day. Priyanka’s main focus was on the claim that the government’s conspiracy had failed, that the defeat of the bill was a victory for democracy and that the BJP had suffered a major setback – among other similar points. However, the Congress party failed to decide what course of action it should take next. Another obvious concern of the Congress was to ensure that SP chief Akhilesh Yadav did not inflame the demand for reservations for Muslim women. Political observers note that the current Congress party has failed to successfully mobilize even a single mass movement in the last decade. The situation is similar with the SP and other political parties. For example, the success of the farmers’ protest was driven by farmers’ organizations; Congress alone is currently unable to achieve anything significant. It is quite possible that the brother-sister duo will travel abroad for a vacation after the elections are over in Bengal and Tamil Nadu.
Under no circumstances could the Women’s Reservation Bill of 2023 have been implemented in 2029. The government was aware of this fact. The government also knew that it did not have a two-thirds majority. Nevertheless, the amending law was introduced. The bill was debated at a time when the government was under fire on various issues; Conversely, elections are planned in Tamil Nadu and Bengal. Experts believe that even if the NDA reaps just half a percent – or one percent – benefit from the Women’s Reservation Bill, it would be considered a major achievement. In fact, Prime Minister Modi has already raised this issue in Tamil Nadu. The BJP’s current strategy makes it clear that the Women’s Reservation Bill will become a major electoral issue in the upcoming assembly elections in Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand and Punjab next year.
