Bhubaneswar, April 21: The Odisha Pradesh Congress Committee (OPCC) criticized the BJP-led central government on Monday regarding the implementation of the Women’s Reservation Bill. They accused the government of delaying the bill and spreading false propaganda about the issue.
During a press conference, Koraput MP Saptagiri Shankar Ulaka stated that he was present when the bill was introduced in the Lok Sabha. He expressed doubts about the government’s intentions from the beginning.
Ulaka noted that the bill was passed almost unanimously in 2023, with only two members opposing it, and it later became law. However, he raised concerns about the delay in issuing the gazette notification, which was only released on April 16, 2026. He questioned why it took the central government three years to issue this notification.
The Congress party aims to reserve 181 out of 543 Lok Sabha seats for women, along with provisions for Scheduled Castes, Scheduled Tribes, and Other Backward Classes, and wants this to be implemented immediately from 2024.
However, Ulaka also mentioned that the government called a special session of Parliament during the elections and linked it to the 2026 census and delimitation, proposing reservations in an expanded assembly of 850 seats.
He further alleged that the delimitation process could reduce representation for southern states based on population and limit seat allocations in states like Assam and Jammu & Kashmir, where the BJP has little support.
Ulaka accused the BJP government of spreading misinformation under the guise of women’s reservation and emphasized that the Congress has historically prioritized women’s empowerment, holding positions from the President and Prime Minister to governors, chief ministers, and local leaders.
He also criticized Prime Minister Narendra Modi, stating that in his recent national address, he mentioned Congress 59 times and TMC 10 times in a 29-minute speech, reflecting the Prime Minister’s helplessness and weakness.
Ulaka questioned whether the Election Commission has taken note of such comments during the ongoing elections and criticized the Prime Minister’s silence on significant issues like Manipur.
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