‘Narishakti Vandan Bill’ (Women Reservation Bill) was approved by the Lok Sabha on Wednesday, which includes the provision of 33 percent reservation for women in the lower house of Parliament and state assemblies. After about eight hours of discussion on the related ‘Constitution (One Hundred and Twenty-eighth Amendment) Bill, 2023’, the Lok Sabha gave its approval by 454 votes against 2. Prime Minister Narendra Modi was present in the House when the bill was passed.
These two MPs opposed the women’s reservation bill
According to reports, Asaduddin Owaisi and Imtiaz Jaleel have voted against the Women’s Reservation Bill. Because All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen (AIMIM) led by Asaduddin Owaisi opposed the bill. However, all the opposition parties in the House including Congress, SP, DMK, Trinamool Congress supported the bill.
Why is Owaisi opposing the women’s reservation bill?
Leader of All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen (AIMIM) Asaduddin Owaisi On Wednesday, she opposed the bill related to women’s reservation in the Lok Sabha and alleged that the government only wants to increase the representation of ‘upper caste women’ in Parliament and is not concerned about women from Other Backward Classes (OBC) and Muslim community.
60 members participated in the discussion on Women’s Reservation Bill
Former Congress President Sonia Gandhi initiated the discussion on the bill. A total of 60 members including Rahul Gandhi, Home Minister Amit Shah, Women and Child Development Minister Smriti Irani participated in the discussion on this bill. These include 27 women members.
Arjunram Meghwal said, this time the bill will not be allowed to get stuck
Union Law Minister Arjunram Meghwal, while replying to the discussion, said that this time the government has made such arrangements that women will not have to wait this time. On technical issues, he said, you (opposition) want this bill to get stuck due to technical reasons, but we will not let it get stuck this time. On the question of a member on giving reservation without delimitation, Meghwal said that if the government gives reservation now, then the opposition will try to trap it by filing a PIL in the Supreme Court through some organization, but this time the government will not let the bill get stuck.
Meghwal targeted Rahul Gandhi
Taking aim at Rahul Gandhi, Meghwal said that his party could not bring the bill while in power because it had neither policy, nor intentions nor leadership. He said, we have policy, intentions and also leadership like Modi ji. Regarding Rahul Gandhi’s claim that three out of 90 secretaries of the government belong to the OBC community, Meghwal said that the Congress leader has criticized his own government by saying this, because the officer who would have become a secretary today would have been an Indian in the 1990s. Must have joined Administrative Services (IAS).
Amit Shah said- Women’s Reservation Bill is not a political issue
Intervening in the discussion on the bill, Union Home Minister Amit Shah said that the census and delimitation work will be completed immediately after the upcoming Lok Sabha elections and the law related to one-third reservation for women in the Lok Sabha and state assemblies will take shape very soon. Shah also indirectly targeted the main opposition party Congress and its leader Rahul Gandhi and said, for some parties, women empowerment can be a political agenda, a political issue, a weapon to win elections, but my party and my For leader Narendra Modi, women empowerment is not a political issue, it is a question of recognition, a question of work culture. On the apprehensions of the opposition members that if the law related to women’s reservation is implemented after the census and delimitation in the country, it will take several years to materialize, the Home Minister said that the Delimitation Commission is a part of the quasi-judicial process headed by the Supreme Court. It consists of retired judges and includes representatives of the Election Commission and one member each from all parties.
Sonia Gandhi supported ‘Narishakti Vandan Bill’
Initiating the discussion this morning, Sonia Gandhi supported the ‘Narishakti Vandan Bill’ and urged the government to include women from Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes as well as Other Backward Classes (OBCs) in the Bill by conducting a caste-based census. Reservation should be arranged. She also said that once the law is made, it should be implemented as soon as possible because delay in implementing it would be a grave injustice to the women of India. The former Congress President recalled the contribution of her husband and former Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi in ensuring reservation for women in local bodies and said that the passing of this Women’s Reservation Bill will fulfill the unfulfilled dream of her late husband.
Rahul Gandhi played OBC card
Rahul Gandhi claimed that there are 90 secretaries in the Government of India out of which only three come from the OBC community and they control only five percent of the budget, which is an insult to the OBC community.
Smriti Irani targeted Sonia Gandhi
Union Minister Smriti Irani, while indirectly targeting Congress Parliamentary Party leader Sonia Gandhi, said that some people are trying to take credit by claiming this bill as ‘theirs’. Without naming the former Congress president, he said that it was said in the House that the United Progressive Alliance government had introduced the bill in 2010. He sarcastically said, there are many leaders of success, but there is no one to take the name of failure. Therefore, when the bill was brought, some people called it ‘their bill’.
What is Nari Shakti Vandan Bill?
It is noteworthy that after ‘Narishakti Vandan Bill’ becomes law, the number of women members in the 543-member Lok Sabha will increase from the current 82 to 181. 33 percent seats will be reserved for women in state assemblies also. Currently, the provision of reservation has been made in the bill for 15 years and the Parliament will have the right to extend it. There will be reservation for Scheduled Caste/Scheduled Tribe in the reserved seats for women also.
