Muzaffarpur: Amid the ongoing war of words between the ruling BJP and the opposition over the recently passed Women's Reservation Bill, veteran Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) leader Abdul Bari Siddiqui has courted a controversy with his statement saying “women with lipsticks and bob-cut hairstyles would come forward in the name of the women's reservation bill”.
The senior RJD leader made the controversial statement during an event in Bihar's Muzaffarpur on Friday. "Those with lipsticks and bob cut hairstyles would now come forward in the name of women's reservation bill. The government should provide reservation to women from backward communities," Siddiqui said at the event.
Also read: Rahul Gandhi urges swift implementation of Women's Reservation Bill, calls out BJP for diverting focus from caste census
The senior RJD leader further advised his supporters to stay away from television and social media till the conclusion of the upcoming Lok Sabha elections scheduled in May 2024. The much awaited Women's Reservation Bill was passed in the Rajya Sabha earlier this month. However, opposition led by Congress has slammed the BJP government at the Centre for attaching riders to the implementation of the bill including delimitation and census.
During a recent presser, Congress leader and MP Rahul Gandhi demanded immediate implementation of the Women's Reservation Bill. Gandhi also criticised the conditions of census and delimitation to the Women's Reservation Bill. The Congress MP said that the riders attached to the bill would unnecessarily delay the bill's implementation.
Rahul Gandhi alleged that the conditions attached to the bill were a 'distraction' by the BJP from the “pressing issue of conducting a caste census in India”. The Congress leader also emphasised the need for “proper representation of the OBC (Other Backward Classes) community in government institutions”. He said that out of 90 government secretaries, only three were OBCs.
