Kamal Ghorui
NEW DELHI: : As dust settles on the setback govt suffered in Lok Sabha, where the women’s reservation amendment bill by 2029 with a hike of 50% seats in the House was defeated by opposition, NDA is not exactly licking its wounds and is instead looking at it as an opening to burnish its pro-women credentials and take the fight to its rivals, including in southern India, where the opposition is in office in all states barring Andhra Pradesh. PM Modi-headed govt has in the past shown willingness to cut its losses when its legislative moves faced political headwinds, as was the case with the farm laws, which were passed by Parliament but repealed by govt in 2021 due to unrelenting protest from a section of farmers. Similarly, govt allowed its bill to amend the UPA-era land acquisition law to lapse in its first term amid apprehensions that it ran the risk of being seen as pro-corporate. They sensed no such risk when the call was taken to persevere with the Constitution (131st Amendment) Bill despite unmistakable signs that, contrary to the govt manager’s initial estimates, Congress and TMC would not break ranks with the DMK. The bills eventually faced defeat in Lok Sabha. Of course, with opposition framing the delimitation as a conspiracy against southern states, some in the party feel that DMK would milk the charge and seek to turn attention away from its vulnerabilities on crime and corruption. But they did not foresee any large-scale damage and beyond Tamil Nadu. The dominant view within BJP and its allies acknowledges that the failure has caused an embarrassment, given opposition a rare moment to celebrate, but they remain confident that the setback can be repurposed into an opportunity to deepen the alliance’s connection with women voters, who have, in any case, in many states shown a preference for them for reasons ranging from targeted welfare schemes to cash assistance and even law and order, as seen in a string of assembly elections. “There would have been gains if the bills had gone through, but failure does not spell loss,” an NDA functionary said. With regard to the south, the feeling is Modi and home minister Amit Shah with their categorical assurance, were also able to send out the message that BJP would ensure justice to south India in delimitation, and a strong show of support from its southern allies like TDP, JDS and AIADMK underscored the issue is not going to be seen through DMK’s prism alone. Modi was quick off the blocks as he raided DMK’s turf in Tamil Nadu a day after the bill was defeated and took it head-on. DMK cannot cover its black deeds by wearing black clothes, he said at a public rally, charging the regional party with derailing the noble effort. A family-run party like DMK will not want other women to gain political power, he said. With NDA already hitting the streets against opposition parties for defeating the constitution amendment bill, he is learnt to have said at the Cabinet meeting on Saturday that they will have to pay a political price and called for countering their narrative built around alleged discrimination against southern states and delimitation of constituencies to suit the governing alliance. In Delhi, women members of BJP, including Union minister Raksha Khadse, marched to Rahul Gandhi’s residence but were detained midway as the party and its allies seek to put Congress and other members of the INDIA bloc on the defensive. “We did lose in numbers, but our case is that we lost for a good cause,” a BJP member said, claiming that it was always a “win-win” situation for the party. This time round, opposition too has moved to present its case in public, evidenced by a presser from Congress’ Priyanka Gandhi Vadra, who has emerged as one of the more articulate voices of her party in Parliament, as she accused BJP of using the quota law as a pretext to change the federal structure through delimitation to stay “permanently” in power.
