First parliamentary defeat in 12 years, how is BJP converting this into a victory? inside story

For the first time, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)-led NDA government has failed to get any law passed by the Lok Sabha. The Constitution Amendment Bill related to women’s reservation was rejected in the Lok Sabha on Friday. If this Act had been passed, it would have been the 131st amendment to the Constitution. Bharatiya Janata Party does not have the numerical strength required to pass the bill. It could not have been passed in the House without the support of the opposition. To pass this ambitious bill of Modi government, 2/3rd votes were required in the House.

As soon as the bill was defeated, Union Parliamentary Affairs Minister Kiren Rijiju termed the outcome as unfortunate. He said that two other bills related to Union Territories and Delimitation, which were directly related to this constitutional amendment, have now been defeated. If the government wants to pass them again, then two-thirds majority will be required, which the government does not have. It is not that the government does not have majority in the House, it is just that this bill did not have the required majority. Such sensitive topics generally do not pass without opposition support. No government has had a two-thirds majority in parliamentary history.

Also read: ‘Had Chanakya been alive, he would have been shocked at your plan’, Priyanka told Home Minister Shah.

Kiren Rijiju, Parliamentary Affairs Minister:-
If Congress is celebrating not giving the rights that should have been given to the women of India, then nothing could be more sad than this. The women of India will never forgive Congress and the opposition. The Home Minister said in the House that if you have technical problems then we are ready to make amendments, if it is required in writing then we are ready to give it in writing also. Congress’s intention was clear that women should not get reservation. Congress has been exposed. We will ensure women’s rights. The Congress Party and its allies have established that they are anti-women. They cannot clear their sins with words. The women of the country will never forgive Congress and its allies.

First election of Modi government in 12 years

Modi government’s big bill to provide reservation to women in the Lok Sabha failed on Friday. This is the first parliamentary defeat of the Modi government in 12 years. Opposition parties rejected Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s last-minute appeal and Home Minister Amit Shah’s proposal. Amit Shah had said that Lok Sabha seats will be increased by 50 percent in all the states, but the opposition did not agree.

How did Modi government lose in Parliament?

298 MPs voted in support of the 131st Amendment Bill of the Constitution. 230 votes were cast in opposition. This bill required at least 352 votes to pass. The bill could not secure a two-thirds majority. The opposition alleged that this bill, in the name of providing reservation to women from 2029, is a conspiracy to reduce the share of South Indian states in the Lok Sabha, change the political map and postpone the caste census.

Also read: ‘Confusion is being spread’, Shah answered each and every question of the opposition on delimitation.

MK Stalin, DMK President:-
On the strength of the responsibility you people have entrusted to me by making me the Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu, the spark lit by Stalin has incinerated the ego of Delhi. Our fight against delimitation has been successful. This is also the first election defeat for AIADMK general secretary EK Palaniswami.

Home Minister Amit Shah said that the share of southern states will increase slightly and the government is committed to the caste census, but the opposition did not accept him. After the failure of the bill, Parliamentary Affairs Minister Kiren Rijiju said that two other bills related to it, including the delimitation bill, will be withdrawn. These bills will no longer be introduced in the Rajya Sabha.

S Jaishankar, Foreign Minister:-
Today we all saw the real face of Congress, TMC, DMK and Samajwadi Party. By blocking the constitutional amendment that would have reserved one-third seats in the Lok Sabha and state assemblies, he has deprived women of their legitimate rights. The country is watching and so are its women. The insult to women power today will never be forgiven.

Now how is BJP capitalizing on this?

Before voting, Prime Minister Modi had appealed to the MPs to consider their conscience and remember the women of the family. He said that the time has come to give women their rights. After the defeat of the bill, Bharatiya Janata Party termed Congress and India Alliance as anti-women. NDA women MPs protested in the Parliament complex even after the rain.

Bharatiya Janata Party leaders are attacking the opposition in one voice. She says that the opposition is anti-women and because of them women are not getting their rights. Leaders of BJP and its allies, including Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK), Trinamool Congress (TMC) and Congress, have started cornering the opposition over the failure of the bill.

Elections are going to be held in Tamil Nadu, Kerala and West Bengal. BJP’s next strategy at all three places is to prove the ruling parties as anti-women.

Shehzad Poonawala, Spokesperson, BJP:-
It is a very sad moment for the women of India and all the democracy lovers that in order to stop the rights of women, the Congress party strangled the rights of women power just by opposing BJP and Prime Minister Modi. Prime Minister Modi, BJP, NDA were in favor of giving rights to women but Congress party stopped it in some way or the other. The women of the country will never forgive them for this historical mistake.

How can BJP take electoral advantage?

Assembly elections have not been held yet in Kerala, Tamil Nadu and West Bengal. Assam elections are over. Now BJP is going to raise the issue of women prominently in these states. Union Home Minister Amit Shah has already announced that now the opposition may have to suffer the consequences in the coming elections. He has also indicated to the party line how to corner the opposition regarding women’s law and delimitation. He has also prepared a clear plan regarding this.

Also read: ‘If you have the courage, stay here on the day of counting…’, Abhishek Banerjee’s challenge to Amit Shah

Amit Shah, Union Home Minister:-
A very strange scene was seen in the Lok Sabha today. Congress, TMC, DMK and Samajwadi Party did not allow the constitutional amendment bill required for Nari Shakti Vandan Act to be passed. Dropping the bill to give 33 per cent reservation to women and celebrating and hailing it is truly condemnable and beyond imagination. Now the women of the country will not be able to get 33 percent reservation in the Lok Sabha and Assembly, which was their right.

What message has Amit Shah given now that will outweigh the opposition?

Amit Shah said, ‘Congress and its allies have not done this for the first time, but have done it again and again. This thinking of theirs is neither in the interest of women nor of the country. I want to tell them that this matter of insulting women power will not stop here, it will go far. The opposition will have to face the anger of women not only in the 2029 Lok Sabha elections, but at every level, every election and every place.

What Amit Shah has said after the failure of the bill is indicating that now the opposition is going to get worse in the election states –

What will be the agenda now in West Bengal?

West Bengal has, for a long time, been a matriarchal society. BJP is cornering Mamata Banerjee on the basis of ‘Maa, Mati, Manush’ which she does politics in the state on the basis of. In a state like West Bengal, where the narrative of ‘women’s identity’ and ‘maa-mati-manush’ is dominant, BJP can use this as an opportunity. BJP leaders are saying that BJP wanted to do welfare of women, TMC did not allow it to happen.

Mamata Banerjee-led Trinamool Congress has 33 MPs. There are 11 women MPs out of 33. Women have more representation in TMC, yet BJP surrounds the government in the name of women oppression. Mamata always criticizes the government regarding incidents like Sandeshkhali, RG Kar Medical College rape case, Singur, Nandigram and Park Street. BJP has got another chance. BJP is cornering Mamata Banerjee in West Bengal on issues ranging from women’s safety to their education and political access.

What is the agenda in Tamil Nadu and Kerala?

Social awareness is more effective in Kerala and Tamil Nadu than in North India. J Jayalalitha remained in the public eye for a long time in Tamil Nadu. His party (AIADMK) is an ally of BJP. Now BJP is arguing here that by spreading lies in the name of delimitation, MK Stalin does not want to give political dominance to the women of the state. BJP leaders are arguing that regional parties have limited women only to populist promises, and when it came to giving them representation, they ignored them.
 

BJP has already increased the participation of women in the local leadership of these states. Now BJP is presenting its failure in Parliament as a strategy. Amit Shah has already indicated that now because of this decision he is going to face a big defeat.

BJP can now give a tough challenge to the claim of leaders like Mamata Banerjee, Pinarayi Vijayan and MK Stalin being ‘pro-women’. BJP is reaching out to women voters on the issue of ‘safety and respect’ among Christians and other communities in Kerala. BJP says that reservation is the only constitutional way for their social representation, which is being blocked by the opposition.

How has BJP managed to influence women?

People who understand the politics of Bharatiya Janata Party say that women are silent voters of BJP. Many schemes of the central and state governments are women centric. There are many welfare schemes which have directly improved their standard of living. Initiatives like Ujjwala Yojana, Swachh Bharat Abhiyan, Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana, Jal Jeevan Mission have impacted women.

In some states, the ‘Ladli Behan’ scheme has also created an atmosphere in favor of BJP. BJP also implements financial assistance schemes like ‘Beti Bachao Beti Padhao’ and ‘Laadli Behna’. Being vocal about triple talaq and women’s safety has been beneficial in election states. Women constitute half the population, BJP is in power in 21 states and union territories. BJP is counting on its votes that these things are going to go against the opposition on this issue.