Varanasi: Finance minister and district in-charge minister of Varanasi, Suresh Khanna said that opposition parties opposed important bills in Parliament on April 16-17. He said that by opposing these important bills, Congress, Samajwadi Party, TMC and DMK have betrayed half the country’s population and have completely exposed their anti-women mentality.Talking to reporters virtually from Lucknow on Friday, the minister said that Prime Minister Narendra Modi had clearly stated that giving women participation in policy-making is not a favour, but their natural right. Those who have obstructed this historic opportunity will face the strong anger of women in the upcoming elections.Khanna said that Union home minister Amit Shah, exposing the lies of the opposition, has clarified that no state will be harmed by delimitation; rather, the proportional representation of South India will remain protected and will increase. Opposition parties like Samajwadi Party are trying to delay the process by raising the unconstitutional demand for religion-based reservation within the quota, which is merely a technical excuse for appeasement and distraction.He said that Bharatiya Janata Party is committed to women’s empowerment and strengthening democracy, and will firmly fight against these anti-women forces to secure women their rights. He said that whenever the question of giving women equal participation in decision-making arises, these parties erect walls of political excuses and delays. Khanna said that the PM has emphasised that giving half the country’s population a share in policy-making is not a favour, but their natural right, which Congress and its allies had held hostage for decades.He said that delimitation is a constitutional obligation, without which a just determination of seats cannot be made. “As per Clause (3) of Article 81, in this article, ‘population’ means the population as ascertained at the last preceding census of which the relevant figures have been published. That is, the population shall be that which is determined on the basis of the last published census data.”He said that as per Article 82, readjustment of seats is carried out after every Census. After the completion of each Census, the allocation of seats in the Lok Sabha to the states and the division of each state into territorial constituencies shall be readjusted by such authority and in such manner as Parliament may by law determine. The purpose of delimitation is not merely to increase the number of seats, but to ensure balanced and inclusive representation in proportion to the population. The opposition is ignoring the fact that the implementation of the Nari Shakti Vandan Adhiniyam is directly linked to delimitation — delay in delimitation means delay in women’s reservation. History is witness that those who opposed the rights of Muslim women in the Shah Bano case and supported practices like triple talaq cannot accept the idea of giving women equal representation.He said that Congress kept women’s reservation pending for decades through technical excuses, committees and hollow debates, and whenever the question of giving rights to backward classes arose, it shelved the reports of commissions. Giving reservation to women in panchayats was easy for them, because their own political position was not affected there, but in Parliament they kept the doors closed. TMC has also been exposed — the party that suppresses women’s voice through violence in its own state was talking about democracy in Parliament. Therefore, opposing these bills is in fact an attempt to deprive women of their rights.
