The Arunachal Pradesh unit of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has criticised opposition parties for allegedly blocking key constitutional amendment bills related to women’s reservation in Parliament. Addressing a press conference at the party office in Itanagar, state minister Dasanglu Pul said the opposition, including the Congress and its allies, failed to support crucial legislation aimed at ensuring 33 per cent reservation for women in the Lok Sabha and state assemblies.
She claimed that bills such as the Constitution (131st Amendment) Bill, the Delimitation Bill, and the Union Territories Laws (Amendment) Bill could not secure the required two-thirds majority due to opposition resistance. According to her, this has delayed a significant step towards increasing women’s participation in lawmaking. Pul described the opposition’s stand as “anti-women” and said it had denied women their rightful representation in democratic institutions. “Providing women a share in policymaking is not a favour, it is their right,” she said, adding that the outcome of the parliamentary discussions held on April 16 and 17 was disappointing.
She further said that the failure of the bills reflects both a legislative and moral setback, and accused opposition parties of misleading the public on issues such as delimitation. Referring to statements made by Union Home Minister Amit Shah, Pul said concerns raised about delimitation harming certain states were unfounded and part of misinformation. The minister also criticised demands by some opposition parties for religion-based reservation within the quota, calling such proposals unconstitutional and an attempt to shift focus from the main issue of women’s empowerment.
