Govt wants to change India's electoral map, it's anti-national: Rahul on women's quota-linked bills

NEW DELHI: (Apr 17) Lacing his speech in the Lok Sabha with analogies and jibes at the government, Leader of Opposition Rahul Gandhi on Friday said the constitution amendment bill has nothing to do with women's reservation and is instead an attempt to change the country's electoral map to retain power -- an "anti-national act".

Participating in a debate on three bills related to amendments to the women's quota law and the setting up of a delimitation commission, the Congress leader said the proposal does not address women's empowerment.

"This (bill) is an attempt to change the country's electoral map, using and hiding behind India's women," he said, calling it a "shameful act".

Gandhi said the government should bring back the 2023 Women's Reservation Act for implementation, assuring the opposition's full support for its immediate passage.

He said a "central truth" in India’s history has been the "brutal, cruel, and unforgiving treatment" of the OBCs, Dalits, minorities, and women.

"What is being attempted here is a bypass of the caste census. They are trying to avoid giving power, representation to my OBC brothers and sisters, and instead take power away from them," Gandhi said, adding that the real agenda is "Manuvaad over Samvidhan".

He also alleged that the government wants to ensure that the caste census has no bearing on representation for the next 15 years. They want to "kick the ball down the street", he said.

Calling the government's move to bring the bill a "very dangerous thing", Gandhi said, "You (government) are scared of what is happening in the politics of this country, you are scared of the erosion of your strength, and you are trying to rejig the Indian political map.

"You have done it in Jammu and Kashmir, you have done it in Assam, and now you are imagining that you can do it in the whole of India," he said.

Gandhi said the government is telling southern, northeastern, and smaller states that for the BJP to remain in power, "we are going to take away representation from you".

"What the government is doing is nothing short of an anti-national act. Under no circumstances will the opposition allow the government to do this. The entire opposition will defeat this attempt of yours to attack the nation state and deprive OBCs and Dalits of their rightful place in society," Gandhi said.

"You call OBCs Hindus, you call Dalits Hindus, but you do not give them any space in the power structure of the country," he said.

He assured the southern, northeastern, and smaller states that the opposition would not allow the government to touch their representation in the Union of India.

Referring to past incidents, he said former prime ministers Indira Gandhi and Atal Bihari Vajpayee had faced similar questions but "understood the dangers" and did not take the action that Prime Minister Narendra Modi is taking.

Gandhi also took a swipe at Modi using an anecdote about a magic show he watched as a child, drawing strong protests from BJP MPs. Defence Minister Rajnath Singh said Gandhi was using objectionable words for the PM and must apologise to the country.

Responding to the uproar from the treasury benches over his apparent reference to the Modi in connection with the Balakot strike, demonetisation and Operation Sindoor, Gandhi said, "The BJP thinks that they are the people of India; they also think that they are the armed forces.

"You are not the people of India, you are not the armed forces, so you should not hide behind the people and the armed forces," Gandhi said.

He said the BJP knows that the bill can not be passed, and its introduction was a "panic reaction" because Modi had two objectives -- to change India's electoral map and project a pro-women stance.

"Why he is doing that, I leave it to your imagination. But the powers that be know exactly why he is doing it," the former Congress chief said.

Gandhi began his speech with an anecdote about how his grandmother, Indira Gandhi, once took him into their garden at night and made him stand there to confront his fear of darkness and a dog.