Udupi Congress President Accuses PM Modi of Lacking Sincerity in Women’s Empowerment
Udupi: Jyothi Hebbar, President of the Udupi District Mahila Congress, strongly criticized the Narendra Modi-led NDA government, asserting that the Prime Minister harbors no genuine intention to politically empower women. Hebbar made these remarks during a press conference in Udupi.
Hebbar alleged that the central government attempted to introduce a delimitation bill under the guise of the women’s reservation bill, a move she characterized as a “conspiracy-driven” maneuver that ultimately failed. She argued that if Prime Minister Modi were truly committed to implementing women’s reservation, he would have acted during his majority government periods in 2014 and 2019. “He had a majority government in 2014 and 2019 and could have enacted the bill then itself,” she stated.
Hebbar highlighted that the 33 percent women’s reservation bill was passed in both the Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha in 2023, with the full support of the Congress party. She emphasized the necessity of reserving 181 seats for women out of the 543-member Lok Sabha, in accordance with the stipulated 33 percent quota.
Further accusations were leveled against the BJP, with Hebbar claiming that the party was attempting to conduct delimitation based on the 2011 Census to form a central government primarily representing northern states. She contended that this would be unjust to the southern states. Hebbar asserted that the BJP knew it lacked the necessary votes to pass the bill, yet it attempted to push delimitation under the pretense of women’s reservation to gain a political advantage in future elections.
According to Hebbar, the defeat of this move represents a setback for the BJP and a victory for the Indian Constitution.
Several prominent figures were present at the press conference, including KPCC spokesperson Veronica Cornelio and women leaders Geetha Wagle, Bhanu Bhaskar, Anita D’Souza, Meenakshi Madhav Bannanje, and Shobha Nayak.