Amid demand for OBC quota and early implementation, LS clears Women’s Reservation Bill
454 members voted in support of the Bill and only two MPs opposed it
In a historic development, Women’s Reservation Bill or the 128th Constitutional Amendment Bill that seeks to reserves 33 per cent of seats in the Lok Sabha and state assemblies for women passed in the Lok Sabha on Wednesday with two-third majority as 454 members voted in support of the Bill and only two MPs opposed it.
As the Bill cleared in Lok Sabha, the government will introduce the legislation for discussion and passage in Rajya Sabha on Thursday. With most of the opposition parties rallying in support of the Bill, the ruling party is confident that the Women’s Reservation Bill will be comfortably passed in the Upper House.
As the government on Wednesday introduced Women’s Reservation Bill — the Nari Shakti Vandan Adhiniyam 2023 – for discussion in Lok Sabha, the Opposition members questioned the motive of the Centre behind calling special session of Parliament by alleging that the government will not implement women reservation as it’s just a ‘political gimmick.’
While Congress leader Sonia Gandhi, who opened the debate from Opposition side, demanded reservation for Other Backward Classes (OBCs) within the Bill, while DMK’s Kanimozhi Karunanidhi slammed the BJP-led government for its secrecy, and TMC MP Kakoli Ghosh Dastidar said hit out at the government for linking it with delimitation and census.
The JDU leader has called the measure a ‘jumla’ of the Modi government, which is aimed at winning the 2024 Lok Sabha elections.
While starting the debate, former Congress president Sonia Gandhi demanded a reservation for OBCs within the 33 percent quota for women and immediate implementation of the Bill. Reservation for women in local bodies had first been tabled by my husband, Rajiv Gandhi. It was a Congress government under PV Narasimha Rao that had got it passed. Rajiv Gandhi’s dream has only been half fulfilled so far and it will be fulfilled with the passage of this Bill.”
Gandhi said that while her party supports the Bill, women are being asked to wait longer to get their rights. “How many years will they have to wait, two, four, eight? Is this right? The Congress demands that the Bill be implemented immediately,” she said.
“A caste census must also be conducted and a provision must be made for reservation for women from the SC, ST and OBC communities,” she said, adding that the government should take all the steps needed for this. Delaying this would be doing gross injustice to women.”
Participating in the debate, TMC’s Kakoli Ghosh Dastidar said that TMC supremo and West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee has always been supporting the Bill -- since 1996 when the process was first initiated.
Dastidar said, “The TMC is a party where over 33 percent of MPs have always been women. Right now, more than 40 percent of the TMC MPs are women.”
Referring to recent protests by some wrestlers, the TMC leader claimed that the “golden girls” who brought medals for India in sports were in Jantar Mantar protesting against the alleged sexual harassment while the alleged perpetrator was sitting among the lawmakers in Parliament.
Calling the measure a ‘jumla’ of the Modi government aimed at winning the 2024 Lok Sabha elections, JD(U) leader Rajiv Ranjan Singh said, “We support the Bill. We want to empower all women. But this is nothing but a ‘jumla’. This is nothing but a panic reaction (of the ruling dispensation) to the formation of the opposition group INDIA. You are scared of 2024. That is why you have brought this Bill.”
However, responding to Sonia Gandhi’s allegations, BJP MP Nishikant Dubey accused the party of saying new things “for political angles” and claimed that it had never spoken about an OBC quota in the context of the reservation for women legislators.
Gandhi further said that her party supports the legislation, but demanded a reservation for OBC within the 33 percent quota for women. The Congress leader also said that speaking on the Bill was an emotional moment for her as her husband Rajiv Gandhi was the first to introduce a Bill on reservation for women in local bodies.
Speaking in Hindi, the former Congress chief said, “On behalf of the Indian National Congress, I stand here in support of the Nari Shakti Vandan Adhiniyam. From smoke-filled kitchens to flood-lit stadiums, the Indian woman’s journey has been a long one. But she has finally reached her destination.”
Stating that women have fought shoulder-to-shoulder with men in the fight for Independence and the creation of a new India, she said, “Speaking on this Bill is an emotional moment for me because the constitutional amendment providing
