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Leaders of the Bharatiya Janata Yuva Morcha (BJYM), the youth wing of the BJP, staged a protest in Hyderabad on Friday evening, burning an effigy of Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha Rahul, targeting the Congress party over its stance on the Women's Reservation Bill in Parliament.
The protest comes after the BJP-led government's attempts to pass the Constitution (131st Amendment) Bill, 2026, failed to secure the required two-thirds majority in the Lok Sabha. The bill received 298 votes in favour and 230 against, falling short of the constitutional threshold, as announced by Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla. The proposed legislation was part of a broader package of three bills, including the Delimitation Bill and the Union Territories Laws (Amendment) Bill, aimed at operationalising the Women's Reservation framework from the 2029 general elections. However, opposition parties opposed linking reservation with delimitation and census exercises, arguing that the women's quota should be implemented immediately. Union Home Minister Amit Shah strongly criticised the opposition, accusing Opposition parties such as Congress, TMC, DMK, and Samajwadi Party of blocking a historic opportunity to grant 33 per cent reservation to women. He warned that the opposition would face the "wrath of women" in future elections for what he described as an "insult to Nari Shakti." On the other hand, Rahul Gandhi defended the opposition's stance, stating that the bill was "not about women's empowerment" but an attempt to alter India's electoral framework through delimitation. Congress leaders, including Priyanka Gandhi Vadra and Shashi Tharoor, maintained that their vote was aimed at safeguarding democratic principles rather than opposing women's reservation. The Women's Reservation law, passed in 2023, provides for 33 per cent reservation for women in the Lok Sabha and state assemblies, but its implementation remains contingent on delimitation. (ANI)
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