Horrifying violence unleashed on youth with abetment of Modi govt: Sonia Gandhi
New Delhi: Congress President Sonia Gandhi on Monday alleged that the "horrifying" violence unleashed on India's youth by goons was with the active abetment of the ruling Modi government and demanded an independent judicial inquiry into the violence in JNU.
In a statement, she accused the Modi government of seeking to stifle and subjugate every voice of dissent and said Sunday's "bone chilling" attack on students and teachers in JNU was a grim reminder of that.
"The voice of India's youth and students is being muzzled everyday. The horrifying and unprecedented violence unleashed on India's young by goons with active abetment of the ruling Modi government is deplorable and unacceptable," she charged.
Gandhi alleged that everyday campuses and colleges are raided across India, either by the police or lumpen elements with support of the BJP government.
"Yesterday's bone chilling attack on students and teachers in JNU, Delhi is a grim reminder of the extent the Govt will go to stifle and subjugate every voice of dissent," she said.
The Congress president said students and youth need affordable education, a deserving job, a promising future and a right to participate in the thriving democracy. "Sadly, the Modi government seeks to suffocate and restrain each one of these aspirations," she charged.
"The entire Congress Party stands in solidarity with India's youth and students. We strongly deprecate the sponsored violence in JNU yesterday and demand an independent judicial inquiry," she said.
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Attack on Constitution defeated, says Rahul Gandhi as bill to amend women’s quota law fails LS test
New Delhi (PTI): Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Friday said the Constitution amendment bill brought by the government to tweak the women’s quota law was an attack on the Constitution, which the opposition has defeated.
The bill was not aimed at providing women reservation, but an attempt to change India's electoral structure, the leader of opposition in Lok Sabha said.
Talking to reporters after the Constitution amendment bill failed to secure two-third majority in the Lok Sabha, Gandhi also said that if the prime minister is serious in providing women reservation in Parliament, he should bring the 2023 law and the opposition would extend its support outrightly.
"As I have said, it was an attack on the Constitution and we defeated that,” he said outside Parliament.
"We clearly said that this was not a women's bill, but an attempt to change India's electoral structure which we have stopped," he added.
In a direct message to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Gandhi said if he wants the women's bill to be implemented, he should bring the 2023 law and implement it from today.
"The entire opposition will support you and ensure women's reservation from today itself," he said.
Later, in a post on X in Hindi, Gandhi said, "The amendment bill has fallen. They used an unconstitutional trick in the name of women to break the Constitution."
"India has seen it. INDIA has stopped it. Hail the Constitution," the Congress leader said.
Congress general secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra said the manner in which the government sought to link the bill to delimitation can never be accepted.
"The way the Modi government presented women's reservation made its passage impossible. The BJP government linked women's reservation to delimitation and the old census, in which the OBC category was not included.
"We can never agree to this. What happened today is a huge victory for the country's democracy and its integrity," she told reporters.
Asked about the BJP leaders accusing the Congress of being anti-women, Priyanka said, "Those who did nothing in Hathras, those who did nothing in Unnao, those who did nothing in Manipur and those who did nothing for women wrestlers are now talking about anti-woman mindset?"
The Constitution amendment bill to implement 33 per cent reservation for women in legislatures in 2029 and increase the number of Lok Sabha seats was defeated in the Lower House on Friday.
While 298 members voted in support of the bill, 230 MPs voted against it. Out of 528 members who voted, the bill required 352 votes for a two-third majority.
The bill proposed to increase the number of Lok Sabha seats to a maximum of 850 from the current 543 to "operationalise" the women's reservation law before the 2029 parliamentary polls, following a delimitation exercise based on the 2011 Census.
Seats were also to be increased in states and UT assemblies to accommodate 33 per cent reservation for women.
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