Bhubaneswar erupted with political rhetoric on Monday as Odisha Congress leaders targeted the BJP government over the stalled Women’s Reservation Bill. OPCC accused New Delhi of foot-dragging and peddling lies to mask implementation failures.
Speaking at a packed press meet, Koraput MP Saptagiri Shankar Ulaka recounted his firsthand experience in Parliament. The 2023 bill sailed through with near-unanimous support, opposed by merely two members, and swiftly enacted into law. But the crucial gazette notification? It arrived only on April 16, 2026.
‘Three years? That’s no accident,’ Ulaka charged. Congress advocated for swift action: 181 seats reserved for women in Lok Sabha, factoring in SC/ST/OBC quotas, effective 2024. The government’s pivot to link it with 2026 census-delimitation and an expanded 850-seat House drew ire.
Ulaka flagged risks to southern states’ seats due to population-based redraws and potential curbs in non-BJP bastions like Assam and J&K. He countered BJP’s narrative by touting Congress’s track record in elevating women to top posts across governance levels.
The MP didn’t spare PM Modi, mocking his recent speech’s obsessive name-drops—Congress 59 times, TMC 10—in a 29-minute rant. ‘This betrays weakness,’ he said. Raising alarms over EC inaction on poll-time attacks and PM’s Manipur hush, Ulaka framed it as a broader pattern of evasion. As campaigns intensify, this row signals escalating pre-election tensions.
