Lucknow, April 30 (IANS) Uttar Pradesh Deputy Chief Minister Brajesh Pathak on Thursday accused the Samajwadi Party (SP) of playing a “double game” after SP legislators held protests outside the state Assembly holding banners reading “implement 33 per cent women reservation”.
Pathak said: “The Samajwadi Party is playing a double game. When it comes to voting in the Parliament, they voted against the Bill.”
He was referring to the Constitution (131st Amendment) Bill, 2026, which aimed to reserve 33 per cent of seats for women in Parliament and included provisions to expand the House’s strength. However, despite extensive debate, it failed to secure the constitutionally required two-thirds majority for passage.
The Uttar Pradesh Deputy CM said that “the SP Chief (Akhilesh Yadav) had clearly denied” even when Union Home Minister Amit Shah had stated that he was ready to put it in writing and bring an official amendment guaranteeing a 50 per cent increase in seats for states, if the Opposition agreed to pause the House proceedings for an hour, and only asked them to support the Bill.
“Therefore, both the Samajwadi Party and Congress are playing a double game. The people of the country understand all this. Both the parties will have to face its consequences,” he added.
About the special session of the Uttar Pradesh Assembly, Pathak said: “Today in the Assembly the members have kept their views on the situation that has aroused after the Nari Shakti Vandan Adhiniyam (131st Constitution Amendment Bill) was not passed in the country’s biggest ‘panchayat’ (Parliament).”
“The anti-women policies of the Samajwadi Party and Congress have been exposed,” he alleged.
Moreover, Pathak also alleged that the Congress and Samajwadi Party are opposing the reservation which would give the women, who comprise half of the population, their rights and would have helped them to have a say in decision making.
“By constantly opposing women’s reservation these (Opposition INDIA bloc) people have not let the Bill to be implemented since independence,” he added.
Meanwhile, Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath had said the special Parliament session had been convened to discuss and pass a condemnation motion against the Opposition’s alleged attempts to stall the implementation of the Women’s Reservation Bill, which seeks to enhance women’s representation in Legislatures and State Assemblies.
Deputy Chief Minister Pathak said: “The motion has been unanimously passed in the Uttar Pradesh Assembly. This would determine that all the women of Uttar Pradesh are standing with Prime Minister Narendra Modi.”
He asserted that under Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s leadership, the BJP has been successful in the implementation of certain schemes in order to give women their rights.
–IANS
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