Himachal BJP's march over women’s quota row on April 23

The BJP on Wednesday announced that it will hold a “Jan Aakrosh Padyatra” on Thursday to protest against what it termed as the Congress’ anti-women stance.

BJP state president Rajeev Bindal said the stand of the Congress on the Women’s Reservation Bill had exposed its “anti-women mindset”.

“Thousands of women will come out on the streets against the Congress. This will not merely be a protest but a decisive movement for women’s dignity, rights and rightful representation,” he said.

Bindal said developments in Parliament over the Nari Shakti Vandan Adhiniyam had exposed the Congress’ stance. “Congress delayed women’s reservation for decades and then opposed it when the opportunity for implementation finally arrived. Celebrating the fall of the Bill reflects the party’s approach,” he alleged.

He said Prime Minister Narendra Modi had convened a special session of Parliament with the objective of ensuring greater participation of women in governance, but the Congress and its allies failed to support the move.

“While the Modi government is committed to empowering women and strengthening democracy, the Congress is attempting to deny these rights,” he said. Welcoming the announcement of urban local body elections, Bindal termed it a victory for democracy and judicial accountability. He alleged that the Congress government had attempted to delay the polls.

He expressed confidence that Panchayati Raj elections would also be announced soon and said the people of Himachal would respond decisively to what he termed as anti-people policies of the Congress government.