The Biju Janata Dal (BJD) announced on Friday that it would undertake the “Nari Adhikar Abhiyan (Women’s Rights Campaign)" from May 10 to 25 in all Assembly constituencies in Odisha.

The chief whip of the BJD in the Assembly, Pramila Mallik, said: “The entire country witnessed how the BJP convened a special session of Parliament and attempted to pass the Women’s Reservation Bill by linking it to the delimitation Bill. After facing setbacks, the BJP is now trying to convene special sessions of Assemblies to level false allegations against Opposition parties.”

In Odisha, the special session was held on Thursday.

She said that all political parties in the country, including BJD, had supported the passage of the Nari Shakti Vandan Adhiniyam in 2023.

"On the pretext of delimitation, the BJP is trying to push the Women’s Reservation Bill into uncertainty," Mallik said.

She accused the BJP of being the only party that didn't want to implement the Women’s Reservation Bill until there was an increase in seats in Parliament and Assemblies.

“This reflects its male-dominated and anti-women mindset. Therefore, to expose the BJP’s anti-women attitude before the public, the BJD will organise the Nari Adhikar Abhiyan from May 10 to 25,” she said.

Rejecting the BJP’s allegation that the BJD was against the Women’s Reservation Bill, the president of the Biju Mahila Janata Dal, Snehangini Chhuria, said during the tenure of Biju Patnaik as chief minister in 1992, Odisha became the first state in the country to reserve 33 per cent seats for women in the three-tier panchayati raj system.

"His son, Naveen Patnaik, later increased it to 50 per cent. Moreover, at a time when there was uncertainty regarding the Women’s Reservation Bill in the country, the Odisha Assembly passed a resolution in 2018, seeking a 33 per cent quota for women in Parliament and Assemblies. A BJD delegation also met leaders of 22 political parties across the country to build consensus on this issue," Chhuria said.

She said that during Naveen Patnaik’s rule, around 80 lakh women in Odisha were empowered through Mission Shakti. “Hence, calling BJD anti-women is absurd. Although the Nari Shakti Vandan Act was passed nearly three years ago, instead of implementing women’s reservation, the BJP is organising public outrage rallies, which reflects its double standards,” she maintained.