On the call of CPI(ML) and the All India Progressive Women’s Association (AIPWA), statewide protest actions were held across Bihar on April 24 against the BJP’s misleading campaign on the issue of women’s reservation. In Patna, a march was taken out from GPO Golambar to Buddha Smriti Park, which culminated in a public meeting.
Raising slogans demanding immediate implementation of women’s reservation, adequate share for Dalit and backward women, and early completion and implementation of caste census, protesters asserted that the BJP is spreading falsehoods on the issue.
Addressing the meeting, AIPWA General Secretary and CPIML Politburo member Meena Tiwari said that the BJP is falsely claiming that the opposition is blocking implementation of women’s reservation, while the truth is the opposite. She that the women’s reservation bill had already been passed by Parliament in September 2023. The main agenda of the BJP was to use Women’s reservation as a disguise to carry forward its nefarious delimitation plan.
Former CPI(ML) MLA Gopal Ravidas strongly criticised the censure motion brought by the government against the opposition in the Bihar Assembly. He said this move weakens democratic traditions and seeks to suppress the voice of the opposition. It diverts attention from real issues facing the people such as women’s reservation, social justice, unemployment and rising prices.
He questioned why delimitation and a fresh census are being made mandatory conditions for implementing women’s reservation when it can be implemented within the existing strength of Parliament. He said that the BJP is not serious about implementing the reservation and is instead creating confusion to derive political benefit.
Speakers emphasised that delimitation is a serious and wide-ranging issue that requires national consensus. They criticised the BJP’s haste and said it is moving towards restructuring seats for electoral gains. They noted that historically, reservation has never been made conditional upon increasing the number of seats.
They also asserted the demand for quota within quota in women’s reservation, stressing that real participation of Dalit and backward women must be ensured.
The meeting concluded with a call to intensify statewide campaigns to expose the BJP’s misinformation and to secure immediate implementation of women’s reservation with quota for Dalit and backward women. It was announced that a sustained outreach campaign will be carried out from block headquarters to villages and street corners through mass meetings and public interactions.
