MP: Cong leader Oza resigns as MPWC head, accuses BJP govt of not allowing her to work

Congress leader Shobha Oza on Friday resigned as chairperson of the Madhya Pradesh Women's Commission, alleging that the BJP government in the state was not allowing her to function.

Oza was appointed as MPWC chairperson on March 16, 2020, by the then Congress government led by Kamal Nath just four days before it collapsed.

“I am supposed to be the MPWC chairperson till March 2023. But the present BJP government has snatched away all the rights associated with this constitutional post. In view of this situation, I have sent my resignation to chief minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan, so that I can fight for the rights of women as before,” Oza said at a press conference here.

The BJP government had cancelled Oza's appointment after it came to power, but the Madhya Pradesh High Court directed it to maintain the status quo on March 22, 2020, after she moved the court.

Despite the high court's order, the BJP government did not allow her to work, locked the doors of the office and told officials and employees to leave the office whenever she attended it, Oza alleged. Complaints about ''influential persons'' associated with the BJP were being disposed of by the nominated member secretary, she claimed, while refusing to disclose the names of such persons.

According to Oza, when she was appointed chairperson of the commission, some 10,000 cases were pending, and as she was not allowed to function, the backlog has now increased to over 17,500.

Reacting to Oza's resignation, Madhya Pradesh BJP spokesperson Neha Bagga said Oza should have resigned immediately after the Congress government fell, and by not doing so, she did injustice to the large number of women whose cases are pending before the commission.

The only motive behind resigning was to give a fillip to her political career, Bagga alleged.