AMARAVATI, APRIL 24: Andhra Pradesh BJP State president P.V.N. Madhav on Thursday called upon alliance leaders to mount a sustained campaign to inform the public — particularly women — about the INDIA bloc's opposition to the Women's Reservation Bill in Parliament, saying the matter must reach every doorstep in the State.
Mr. Madhav was speaking at a teleconference convened by Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu with leaders of the ruling National Democratic Alliance (NDA), during which the strategy for a public outreach drive against the Opposition's stance on the Nari Shakti Vandan Adhiniyam was discussed at length.
'Grave injustice to women'
Addressing the conference, Mr. Madhav said the Opposition parties had done a grave injustice to women across the country by blocking the Nari Shakti Bill, which he described as a landmark legislation central to women's empowerment. He characterised the move as being contrary to democratic values and said it was incumbent upon the NDA to ensure that women in every part of the State were made aware of who had stood in the way of their political representation.
He directed party and alliance leaders to organise wide-ranging awareness programmes on behalf of the NDA to carry this message to every home and every woman voter, and to highlight the coalition's commitment to safeguarding women's rights.
Delimitation issue
Mr. Madhav also addressed the question of constituency delimitation based on updated population data, assuring leaders that the exercise would be carried out equitably without any discrimination between northern and southern States. He asked NDA functionaries to proactively dispel misconceptions and unwarranted apprehensions that were being circulated among the public on the matter, and to ensure that a clear and factual understanding prevailed at the grassroots level.
The teleconference, chaired by Mr. Naidu, is understood to have reviewed the broader political situation and chalked out the NDA's outreach agenda in the State in the weeks ahead.
