New Delhi

Bharatiya Janata Party MLAs led by Rekha Gupta on Tuesday staged a protest in the Delhi Legislative Assembly premises over the defeat in the Lok Sabha of a Constitution amendment bill seeking reservation for women.

The protest was held ahead of a special Assembly session convened to discuss the bill and opposition from the Indian National Congress and other parties.

BJP legislators, including ministers in the Delhi government, raised slogans saying the country would not tolerate the “humiliation” of women. They also entered the House wearing black armbands.

Later in the day, the BJP government was expected to move a censure motion against the opposition over the bill’s defeat.

Gupta said women across the country had hoped for 33 per cent reservation after the recent Lok Sabha session, but the measure did not pass. She accused opposition parties of betraying women and playing a “deeply disappointing role.”

The Congress and other opposition parties, which voted against the bill, alleged that the government’s real intention was to carry out delimitation before conducting a caste census.

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According to figures cited during the protest, 298 members voted in favour of the bill and 230 against it. Of the 528 members who voted, the bill required 352 votes for the two-thirds majority needed for passage.