What was point of women's quota bill if it could not be implemented immediately: Priyanka Gandhi

Dhar (MP): Congress general secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra on Thursday said the BJP-led Union government was treating women as a "joke" as the newly enacted legislation which reserves seats for them in legislatures can not be implemented for ten years. Speaking at a rally at Mohankheda in tribal-dominated Dhar district of poll-bound Madhya Pradesh, she also made a pitch for a caste census and slammed the BJP government in the state over corruption.

“BJP-led Union government brought in the women's reservation bill and all of us opposition parties supported it. …Then we found that it will not be implemented for ten years, before that the census will be conducted and delimitation (of Lok Sabha constituencies) will have to be carried out....What was the point of this announcement then....You are treating women as a joke, this (reservation) is our right. They (government) are not doing anyone any favour,” she said. She also asked why the Union government was averse to conducting a caste census "if everyone has equal rights". "In the caste census conducted in Bihar, it was found that 84 percent of the population is OBCs and Dalits, but these people are not holding government posts, and when asked, they (BJP) fall silent,” Gandhi said. Whether those in this 84 per cent group are holding any key government positions, she asked.

The Congress general secretary also took potshots at Prime Minister Narendra Modi for his frequent visits to Madhya Pradesh ahead of the assembly elections that are due by the year-end. “When elections come around, Modi ji is visiting the state every two days and inaugurating projects," she said, asking why these development works could not take place earlier. “Modi ji is saying vote for me. He is not talking about chief minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan. Chouhan would not be the chief minister (after the polls),” she added. The prime minister mentioned the Congress "50 times" in his latest 50-minute speech delivered in the state, and he should rather talk about development, Gandhi said.

The BJP "plays with emotions" on the caste and religious lines during elections, and the people should not be swayed by such leaders, she said. "Vote for your good. And if you think in this way, your vote will go to the Congress which has strengthened, developed and kept the country united," Gandhi added. She also alleged that corruption was rampant in the 18-year rule of the BJP in Madhya Pradesh. “More than 250 scams took place in 18 years,” Gandhi claimed, and added that the BJP government did not spare even "Ma Narmada (River Narmada) and Lord Mahakal (of Ujjain's Mahakaleshwar temple)" while committing scams. The Congress implemented its election-time "guarantees" in the states such as Karnataka, Chhattisgarh, Rajasthan and Himachal Pradesh, she said.