Lucknow, April 16 (IANS) After a controversy erupted over Samajwadi Party (SP) President Akhilesh Yadav’s concern that Muslim women should get separate reservations after the passage of the Women’s Reservation Bill, Uttar Pradesh Women’s Commission Chief Babita Singh Chauhan on Thursday emphasised that women cannot be contained within a particular caste or religion and instead should be seen as comprising 50 per cent of the population.
During a debate following the introduction of the Constitution (One Hundred and Thirty-First Amendment) Bill, the Delimitation Bill 2026 and the Union Territories Laws (Amendment) Bill, 2026, in the Lok Sabha, Union Home Minister Amit Shah took a jibe at the SP Chief, saying “SP can give all its tickets to Muslim women.”
Reacting to Akhilesh Yadav’s remark, Babita Singh Chauhan asked why should reservation be given to Muslim women?
“Where did Hindu and Muslim come into this? We have said that women have no religion, no caste,” she told IANS.
She added, “When it comes to women, she cannot be contained within a religion or caste. They are the half of the country’s population, that’s it. They seek equal representation (as men).”
Supporting Union Home Minister Shah’s statement, Chauhan said, “If he (Akhilesh Yadav) wants, he can give party tickets to Muslim women.”
Citing an example, the Uttar Pradesh Women’s Commission Chief said, “If a woman candidate from the BJP is contesting from a particular constituency, the Samajwadi Party would also field a woman from there. Since now the seats are being reserved it won’t be a male, right? He (Akhilesh Yadav) can easily field a Muslim woman candidate. It is a good thing.”
Chauhan noted that both Hindu and Muslim women are watching the debate over Women’s Reservation Bill in the Parliament.
“If this Bill was not proposed, would the Muslim women have got this benefit? When Hindu women were not getting (reservation), how could the Muslim women have got?” she asked.
Expressing her gratitude to Prime Minister Narendra Modi for thinking about the reservation for women, Chauhan said, “PM Modi did not think it this way that whether it will benefit Muslim or the Hindu women. He only said that this reservation will be for women (irrespective of caste or religion) and that women also have the right to participate in the mainstream.”
“They (women) should also have a role in decision making. This is the thought of PM Modi and we respect that,” the Uttar Pradesh Women’s Commission Chief asserted.
–IANS
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