Why you don’t want to give political rights to OBC women: Dimple Yadav attacks BJP

Speaking to press, Dimple Yadav said, You have brought this reservation and when you say that your existence and dominance is based on OBC voters then why do you not want to give political rights to OBC women?

New Delhi: Samajwadi Party MP Dimple Yadav on Thursday targetted the Bharatiya Janata Party over the non-inclusion of the OBC quota in the Women Reservation Bill and questioned that when BJP mentions that they value the OBC community then why it has not given reservation to the women in the bill.

Speaking to ANI, Dimple Yadav said, “You (BJP) have brought this reservation and when you say that your existence and dominance is based on OBC voters and you have been in the government for 10 years only on the basis of OBC voters then why do you not want to give political rights to OBC women?” Earlier Rahul Gandhi on Wednesday said that the bill was “incomplete” as it lacks quota for Other Backward Classes (OBC).

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“The moment the opposition raises the issue of caste census and Adani, the BJP tries to raise a new event so that the OBC community and the people of India look the other way. In my research for the speech, I took a look at the different institutions that define how our country moves forward. There are many– Lok Sabha, Rajya Sabha, Vidhan Sabha, bureaucracy, and the press. And I look with an eye to understand what is the participation of the OBC community in these institutions,” Rahul Gandhi said in Lok Sabha. He further said that the Women’s Reservation Bill is a big step but he would like to see OBC reservations included in this bill.

“It (Women’s Reservation Bill) is a big step and I am sure everybody – the treasury benches and the Opposition – in this room agrees that this is a very important step for the women of our country. There is one thing, in my view, that makes this bill incomplete. I would like to have seen the OBC reservation included in this bill,” he said.
Refuting the allegations made by Rahul Gandhi on the representation of OBC communities in the Government institutions. Union Minister Kiren Rijiju asked the Congress leader to focus on the facts.

“This is for Rahul Gandhi and I hope he can read and understand it. Rahul Gandhi and Congress have raised questions regarding OBC representation in Parliament. Whereas history presents a different story. Consider this: In 1992, the batch of secretaries currently serving in the Government of India began their journey. During that period the Congress Party remained in power for most of the time. Then why did they not pay attention to OBC representation?” Rijiju posted on X.

Union Law Minister Arjun Ram Meghwal had on Tuesday introduced the new Bill — Nari Shakti Vandan Adhiniyam, in its very first sitting of the Lok Sabha in the new Parliament complex, which was passed on Wednesday in the Lower House.

The Women Reservation Bill seeks to guarantee 33 per quota for women in Lok Sabha and state assemblies. Reservation for women in Parliament and Legislative assemblies has been a promise of many parties, including the BJP for years.