O’Brien’s jibe at BJP on women’s reservation

The BJP could not find a single woman in 16 NDA states to become chief minister, TMC MP Derek O’Brien said on Thursday during the debate on the women’s reservation bill introduced in Rajya Sabha on Thursday, a day after it was cleared in Lok Sabha by an overwhelming majority. He advocated for the bill to be implemented in 2024 or to at least provide reservation to women in Rajya Sabha. Taking a jibe at women’s representation within BJP ranks, he called for one-third women to get elected from the saffron party.

“In 2021, before Bengal assembly elections, the men through money, media, muscle power, misogyny and mocked her (Mamata Banerjee): ‘Didi o Didi’. You broke her foot. Smashed it but she gave you an answer truly like a woman. The people of Bengal answered for her,” O’Brien was quoted as saying in an NDTV report. “After the election, what happened? Bengal’s health ministry, finance ministry, land, industry, commerce ministries are all headed by women. You could not find one woman in 16 NDA states for chief minister.”

He also quoted a news article in which Uttar Pradesh chief minister Yogi Adityanath was quoted as saying: ‘Men become gods when they achieve womanly qualities, and women, when they develop masculine qualities, become rakshasa (demons).’

Taking a jibe at the Narendra Modi-led central government, he said: “You can build a new building, but first you need to change your mindset.”

The women’s reservation bill will provide for 33 percent seats to women in Lok Sabha and state assemblies. The Opposition, while it agrees with the reservation, has questioned the timeframe in which the bill will be implemented and has demanded SC/ST quota within the 33 percent reservation.

With inputs from News18

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