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The Bharatiya Janata Party has announced a large-scale outreach drive in Maharashtra to collect one crore signatures from women in support of the Women’s Reservation Bill.

The campaign aims to mount pressure on the Opposition, which opposed the Bill, leading to its defeat in the Lok Sabha, a setback seen as embarrassing for the BJP-led central government.

Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis, while addressing the media in Mumbai, said, “The Opposition has always been against the empowerment of women. Its opposition to the Bill reflects this mentality.”

Fadnavis added that the BJP will take the issue to every corner and garner support from women, which will make the Sharad Pawar-led NCP, Shiv Sena (UBT), and Congress realise their mistake. “Once the Opposition realises the blunder, those opposing it will quietly extend their support to the Women’s Reservation Bill,” he claimed.

The Narendra Modi-led government faced its first major legislative defeat since coming to power in 2014, as the Constitution (131st Amendment) Bill, 2026, was rejected in the Lok Sabha on Friday. The proposed law sought to introduce 33 per cent reservation for women in Parliament and state Assemblies, along with the redrawing of constituencies.

Following the Bill’s defeat, the BJP is now taking to the streets to explain to citizens, especially women, how the Opposition is “anti-women.” Fadnavis said that in states like Delhi, Madhya Pradesh, and Gujarat, the BJP gave their first women chief ministers, something the Congress never did despite ruling these states for years.

CM confident of implementing reservation by 2029

Fadnavis said the outrage among women against Opposition parties will be so strong that they will be compelled to support the Women’s Reservation Bill. “I am sure that the Women’s Reservation Bill will be implemented by the 2029 elections,” he added.