Lucknow, April 19 -- Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath on Sunday accused Opposition parties of having an anti-women mindset, saying their position on the women's reservation law exposes their reluctance towards women's empowerment.
Addressing a joint press conference in Lucknow along with Union minister Annapurna Devi, the chief minister defended the Nari Shakti Vandan Adhiniyam and launched a sharp political attack on parties, including the Samajwadi Party and Congress.
Annapurna Devi alleged that the Samajwadi Party was indulging in appeasement politics by seeking reservations for Muslim women. She said the Constitution does not permit reservation on religious grounds and accused Opposition parties of misleading the public.
Adityanath described the law as a major step towards empowering women and said Opposition resistance was driven by caste-based politics. Referring to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, he said the government considers women, youth, the poor and farmers as the foundation of its governance agenda. The CM also targeted parties such as Congress, Samajwadi Party, RJD, Trinamool Congress and DMK, accusing them of obstructing reform measures. He said the Centre had ensured that the implementation of the law would not adversely impact any state and that increasing the number of seats was part of this process.
Adityanath said their stance was against the spirit of the Constitution. He also referred to past issues such as the Shah Bano case to allege that Congress had a history of failing to protect women's rights.
Published by HT Digital Content Services with permission from Millennium Post.