NEW DELHI: Parliamentary affairs minister Kiren Rijiju on Saturday targeted Lok Sabha leader of opposition Rahul Gandhi over his recent remarks on women’s freedom of expression and challenged him to support the BJP-backed Women’s Reservation Bill “unconditionally”.Rijiju’s remarks came after Rahul Gandhi posted a video calling for greater freedom of expression for women and arguing that India cannot fully develop without women being able to express themselves freely.Responding to the senior Congress leader, Rijiju said Rahul Gandhi’s message appeared to be a positive change and urged the Congress to support the Women’s Reservation Bill without conditions.“This seems to be a positive message from the Congress Party. There’s a visible change of heart in Shri Rahul Gandhi Ji about the Women. Now, I hope the Congress Party will support the Women’s Reservation Bill unconditionally,” the Union minister posted on X.The Congress and other opposition parties have supported the Women’s Reservation Bill but have opposed linking its implementation to the delimitation exercise. The opposition has demanded that women’s reservation be delinked from delimitation, which would determine the number of Lok Sabha seats.The Nari Shakti Vandan Adhiniyam, 2023, was passed by both Houses of Parliament. However, its implementation did not move forward after the Constitution (131st Amendment) Bill failed to secure the required two-thirds majority of members present and voting in the Lok Sabha on April 17.The legislation provides for 33% reservation for women in the Lok Sabha and state legislative assemblies and links its implementation to delimitation.Earlier, Rahul said in a social media video that women in India should be given greater freedom to express themselves in all areas of life.He said, “The energy of India’s women is trapped. It is not allowed to express itself. It is not allowed to imagine. For me, no country can be successful if its women are not expressing themselves. And I think a lot of my politics, and a lot of what politics should be in this country, is about making people understand that our country is stunted and incomplete without the expression of women.”
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Rahul further said, “It’s not just them doing well in business or politics, but being able to express in their houses, walk the streets comfortably, them putting a point of view that many don’t agree with, questioning their parents, husbands, brothers.”“A certain amount of freedom from patriarchy and the rigid control men put on women is required if India wants to develop. It has been assaulted and put in the back seat, and we have to bring back women into conversation and allow them to express,” the Congress leader added.Rahul posted his message on women’s freedom after meeting Gen Z protesters and highlighting the repercussions they have faced following their protests amid the crackdown.
