Akhilesh Yadav questions bill ‘haste’, says SP backs women’s quota

Samajwadi Party president Akhilesh Yadav on Thursday questioned the Centre’s “intent and haste” in pushing three key bills — on women’s reservation, a Constitutional amendment and delimitation — during the special session of Parliament, alleging that the move could disadvantage backward and marginalised women.

Participating in the debate, Yadav said his party “fully supports” women’s reservation but warned against what he termed an attempt to “shortchange” certain sections through the current framework. He insisted that a nationwide Census, particularly a caste-based enumeration, must be conducted before implementing the quota.

“We are in support of women’s quota but against any conspiracy to deprive backward and marginalised women of their rightful share,” he said.

The SP chief accused the BJP of turning women’s reservation into a political issue. “The government is trying to convert a national cause into a poll plank and hijack it,” he said, adding that the ruling party’s record on women’s representation remained inadequate despite being in power in multiple states.

Citing the BJP’s governance footprint across 21 states and Union Territories, Yadav asked how many of those were led by women. “The party that calls itself the world’s largest must introspect on how much power it has actually given to women,” he said.

He further alleged that the government was deliberately delaying the Census, especially caste enumeration, to avoid extending reservation benefits to backward communities. “The primary purpose of this bill is to cultivate a new vote bank as they fear losing support in upcoming elections,” he claimed.

Raising concerns over delimitation, Yadav said the exercise could distort India’s federal balance and favour the ruling party politically. Referring to past exercises in Assam and Jammu and Kashmir, he described them as “botched” and cautioned against repeating similar processes.

He also flagged apprehensions about a significant increase in assembly seats in Uttar Pradesh post-delimitation, suggesting there could be a “conspiracy” behind the proposed changes. “If there is any ill intent in restructuring constituencies, it will backfire on the BJP,” he said.

Opposing the rotation of reserved seats, Yadav argued that such a system could weaken democratic accountability. “We are against rotation of seats; it does not bode well for democracy. A Census must come first,” he reiterated.

The SP chief concluded by reaffirming his party’s commitment to women’s empowerment, saying its ideology, rooted in socialist traditions, has consistently advocated equal rights and representation for women.

With IANS inputs