LUCKNOW, May 1 -- The state legislature's day-long special session on women's empowerment began on Thursday amid protests and counter-protests by Opposition and ruling BJP MLAs inside and outside the House. Opposition MLAs, mostly Samajwadi Party members, came with placards bearing the slogan, "33% Mahila Arakshan Lagu Karo." They questioned why the women's reservation bill, passed in Parliament in 2023, has not yet been implemented. The BJP members, mostly women MLAs, also hold placards with "jab jab chunav ataa hai vipaksh burkhe mein chhip jata hai" and "Nari virodhi doob maro, apni kartooton pr sharam karo." Just before the proceedings began, both Opposition and BJP members came face to face in the well of the House and raised slogans against each other. This continued for a few minutes until the speaker arrived and members were asked to be seated. Opposition members raised the slogan "Jai Samvidhan Jai Bhim." Outside the House too, women MLAs from the BJP and the Opposition parties held protests before the session began. The BJP MLAs hit out at the Opposition for defeating the Constitution (131st Amendment) bill, which would have led to implementation of Women's Reservation Law in the Lok Sabha. This followed another demonstration by Samajwadi Party MLAs, who alleged that the BJP was misleading the public on women's reservation. The women BJP legislators assembled in front of Chaudhary Charan Singh's statue in the assembly complex, holding banners inscribed with the slogan "Insult to Matrushakti (women's power), India will not tolerate it". The protesting members entered the main hall carrying the posters. Minister for women welfare and child development Baby Rani Maurya said all Opposition parties, including the Samajwadi Party and the Congress, had opposed women's reservation, a stance for which they would pay a heavy political price. BJP MLA Ketki Singh remarked that their protest represents the collective outrage of millions of women across the state. She said the current demonstration is merely the beginning, and very soon, women from every street, intersection and household will join the protest movement. Minister of state Vijaylakshmi Gautam said, "We strongly condemn the despicable act committed by the Samajwadi Party and the Congress in an attempt to hold back 'half the population' (women)." "Had the BJP really been worried about women, the notification would not have come two-and-a half years after the bill was passed in 2023," said SP MLA Ragini Sonkar....