Samajwadi Party National President and former Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav said that his party has always worked to empower women and fully supports women’s reservation. However, he strongly criticized what he called the BJP’s political strategy behind the move, saying the ruling party has remained silent on the rights of women from backward communities, who make up a large section of the population.
He explained that in the Samajwadi Party’s PDA formula, “A” stands for Aadhi Aabadi (half the population), meaning women are at the center of the party’s vision. He questioned why the government was rushing the Women’s Reservation Bill and alleged that the real purpose was to avoid conducting a caste census. According to him, once caste census figures come out, demands for reservation based on population data would naturally follow.
Akhilesh Yadav said socialist thinker Dr. Ram Manohar Lohia always stood for gender equality and social justice, and the Samajwadi Party continues to follow those principles. He said the party supports 33 percent reservation for women and sees it as an important step toward strengthening social justice. He also accused the BJP of using women’s issues as a political slogan. He questioned how the party could claim to respect women when, according to him, women have not been given proper representation within its ideological roots.
Speaking in the Lok Sabha on Thursday during the debate on the Women’s Reservation Amendment Bill, Akhilesh Yadav said India ranks 127th globally in gender equality. He pointed out that the BJP and its allies govern many states, but asked how many women chief ministers they have appointed. He also questioned the number of women MLAs and MPs within the BJP.
Referring to the ideas of Dr. Lohia, he said women deserve equal participation in every field. Lohia believed that if women are empowered, society itself progresses, and that social revolution would remain incomplete without women’s participation in politics. He added that the Samajwadi Party was the first to introduce reservation for women in Panchayats in Uttar Pradesh.
Akhilesh Yadav further accused the BJP of trying to gain political advantage through the Bill because it was losing public support. He said women today are suffering the most due to inflation, corruption, and rising prices of essential items, especially cooking gas cylinders, which have deeply affected household budgets. He also spoke about the struggles of women in Meerut and Noida, saying many are protesting due to loss of livelihoods and injustice.
He argued that if the Bill is truly for women’s welfare, the government should explain directly to working women how it will improve their lives. He said backward communities make up nearly 70 percent of the population, and therefore women from these communities should have a clear share in reservation. He also demanded that Muslim women be included in the broader framework of women’s representation.
On delimitation, he warned that changing constituency boundaries for political benefit would be unfair. He insisted that a fresh census must be conducted first, because without accurate population data, reservation cannot be just or balanced. He also opposed the rotation of reserved constituencies, saying elected representatives develop strong emotional ties with their areas. If seats keep changing, leaders may focus more on finding new constituencies than serving the people.
