JAMMU, Apr 22: Protests erupted in Jammu on Wednesday as activists of the Bharatiya Janata Party and the Indian National Congress held demonstrations against each other over the failure of the Women Quota Constitution Amendment Bill.
Hundreds of BJP workers, led by J&K unit president and MP Sat Sharma, marched from Maharaja Hari Singh Park towards the Congress office, raising slogans and burning effigies of opposition leaders, including Rahul Gandhi and Akhilesh Yadav.
The administration deployed heavy barricading and barbed wire to stop the BJP rally from reaching the Congress office at Vir Marg.
BJP leaders, including MLA Yudhvir Sethi and MP Jugal Kishore, accused opposition parties of blocking the bill due to “selfish and dynastic politics,” claiming it undermined women’s empowerment.
Simultaneously, Congress workers staged a counter-protest at their office, alleging that the BJP was attacking democratic institutions under the pretext of promoting women’s rights. The protest was led by working president Raman Bhalla.
Congress spokesperson Namrata Sharma said the bill’s defeat reflected resistance to what she termed a politically motivated attempt to restructure India’s electoral framework, asserting that her party supports 33 percent reservation for women.
The protests followed the defeat of the Constitution (131st Amendment) Bill in the Lok Sabha, which proposed implementing women’s reservation and increasing the strength of the House to 816 seats.
