Thane

Naseem Khan has accused the Centre of misleading citizens over the women’s reservation bill and said the Indian National Congress will organise nationwide protests to expose the government’s stand on the issue.

Addressing a press conference, Khan alleged that the Bharatiya Janata Party-led Centre was also trying to project Congress as anti-women.

He said the women’s reservation bill had been passed in the Lok Sabha in 2023 with Congress support, but claimed the BJP later created confusion by linking it to a constitutional amendment process.

The Constitution (131st Amendment) Bill, 2026, which sought to implement 33 per cent reservation for women in the Lok Sabha and state assemblies from the 2029 general elections, failed to pass in the Lower House on April 17.

Khan alleged that the ruling party was not sincere about granting reservation and instead attempted to pursue broader political objectives through constitutional changes. He said Congress opposed such efforts to protect democratic principles.

He further claimed that the government was trying to weaken democratic institutions through indirect methods while running a false campaign that the Opposition was against women’s reservation.

According to Khan, the women’s quota law had already been approved in 2023 and should now be implemented without delay to ensure equal opportunities for women in the 2029 elections.

Opposition parties have argued that the bill was linked to a larger delimitation exercise. Khan said any delimitation process should be carried out transparently and accused the Centre of trying to manipulate constituencies through constitutional changes.

He also targeted the BJP on women’s safety, questioning whether adequate steps had been taken to curb crimes against women or to ensure sufficient representation of women in positions of power.

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Khan said Congress would hold protests across the country to challenge what he described as the Modi government’s repeated misleading stance on women’s reservation and constitutional matters.