DEHRADUN, Apr 24: Uttarakhand Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami on Friday likened the “celebrations” by opposition parties following the defeat of the Constitution (131st Amendment) Bill, 2026, in Lok Sabha to scenes from the Mahabharata, saying Congress leader Rahul Gandhi was acting like Duryodhana.
Addressing a ‘Mahila Janakrosh Padyatra’ organised by the state BJP from Parade Ground to Clock Tower here, Dhami said opposition parties celebrated as if they had won a war after the Bill failed to pass due to numerical strength. The march was held to register protest against the opposition, which the BJP alleges “blocked” the Bill.
“This scene (in Lok Sabha) reminded us of the Mahabharata, in which the Kauravas were laughing loudly after insulting a woman. By snatching the rights of our ‘nari shakti’, the Congress ‘yuvraj’ (Rahul Gandhi) was celebrating like an intoxicated Duryodhana,” the chief minister said.
Dhami compared Samajwadi Party’s “netaji” (Akhilesh Yadav) to Dushasana, accusing him of insulting women while claiming victory. He alleged that the INDIA bloc blocked a “historic decision” to protect their political interests.
The chief minister claimed that these parties fear their “shops of nepotism and dynastic politics” will shut down if women from ordinary households participate in the decision-making process. He termed the opposition a “dynastic syndicate” that conspired to crush women’s rights.
Dhami noted that despite ruling for six decades after Independence, the Congress never gave women their due rights. He noted that cabinets under Jawaharlal Nehru, Indira Gandhi, and Rajiv Gandhi had only one woman minister.
The chief minister asserted that Congress only appointed Indira Gandhi as prime minister because she was Nehru’s daughter. He stated that Prime Minister Narendra Modi appointed six women ministers in his first term and currently has seven in his cabinet.
Taking a swipe at Priyanka Gandhi, Dhami referenced her “Main ladki hoon, lad sakti hoon” slogan. He stated that she betrayed the country’s daughters when the actual opportunity to fight for them arose.
Dhami highlighted central schemes like ‘Beti Bachao, Beti Padhao’, ‘Ujjwala Yojana’, and ‘Jan Dhan Yojana’ as pillars of women’s empowerment since 2014. He urged the large gathering of women to give a fitting reply to dynastic parties in the upcoming elections.
The BJP and opposition parties have sparred over the Bill that sought to implement 33 per cent reservation for women in legislatures in 2029 and increase the number of Lok Sabha seats to 816. When put to a vote, the Bill failed to secure the required majority in the Lok Sabha last week.
While the BJP has blamed the opposition for stalling women’s reservation in the Lok Sabha and state legislatures, the opposition has maintained that it was only against the delimitation bill. (PTI)
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