Congress never aimed to better the lives of Muslim women, Smriti Irani said. (File)
In the 1980s, Congress had an opportunity to do justice to Muslim women, however, vote bank was more important for the party and not justice to women, said Union Minister Smriti Irani on the 1st anniversary of law against triple Talaq on Friday.
Recalling the 1980s era, when Congress was the ruling party in the country, Ms Irani said that the party never aimed to better the lives of Muslim women, when they "had the numbers."
"In the 1980s Congress had time and numbers to do justice to Muslim women. But vote bank was more important for them and not justice to Muslim women. They never aimed to better the lives of Muslim women," Ms Irani said.
Union Ministers Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi, Ravi Shankar Prasad, and Smriti Irani on Friday addressed Muslim women here to commemorate the first anniversary of law against Triple Talaq.
The Bill was passed by Parliament last year and the Centre decided to celebrate the day as Muslim Women's Rights Day.
As Eid and Raksha Bandhan are around the corner, Ms Irani congratulated women and thanked the Prime Minister for ensuring women''s empowerment.
"Naqvi Ji always told me that he will give me an Eidi that will make me be proud of him. Today is one such day," she said.
Taking a dig at the Congress, Ms Irani said that the party cared more about its survival than giving justice to women. She did mention how she adhered to the Prime Minister's appeal of wearing a face mask and "do gaj ki doori".
"This country had a woman Prime Minister but it was PM Modi who cared for the empowerment of women through initiatives like toilets construction, the opening of bank accounts and 10 crore families being benefitted by the Aarogya Setu scheme," she said.
"80 lakh poor women got screened for breast cancer like diseases. I believe a day will come when we will see Muslim women leading digital literacy," she said.