The Women’s Reservation Bill was passed in the Lok Sabha on Wednesday. Only two MPs voted against the bill in the lower house while the bill was passed with a majority of 454 votes in favour.
New Delhi: The Women’s Reservation Bill was passed in the Lok Sabha on Wednesday. Only two MPs voted against the bill in the lower house while the bill was passed with a majority of 454 votes in favour. According to reports, Asaduddin Owaisi and Imtiaz Jaleel might have voted against the bill as AIMIM opposed the bill.
Earlier, AIMIM MP Asaduddin Owaisi opposed the women’s reservation bill saying it would provide reservation only to “savarna women”, and questioned why OBC and Muslim women who have even lesser representation in Parliament are not being given any quota.
“I oppose this legislation…. The justification that is being given for the bill is that more women will get elected to Parliament. If that is the justification, why that justification is not being extended to the OBC and Muslim women whose representation in this august House is minimal,” Owaisi said.
“We know Muslim women are seven per cent of the population, but in this Lok Sabha their representation stands at only 0.7 per cent,” he said.
Lok Sabha Nod to Women’s Reservation Bill with Near Unanimity
The Lok Sabha on Wednesday passed a bill granting reservation to women on one-third seats in Lok Sabha and state assemblies with near unanimity amid demands from the opposition to extend similar benefits to Other Backward Classes and immediate implementation of the measure before the elections next year.
After a spirited eight-hour debate in which 60 members participated, the Lok Sabha passed the Constitution (128th Amendment) Bill, with 454 members voting in favour and two against it. Prime Minister Narendra Modi was present during the voting on the bill, which was the first to be passed in the new Parliament building.
Setting the tone of the debate, former Congress president Sonia Gandhi made a strong pitch for bringing OBC women in the ambit of the proposed law asserting that any delay in bringing the reservation into effect would be “gross injustice” to women.
Intervening in the debate, Home Minister Amit Shah brushed aside apprehensions of a delay in the implementation of the proposed law and asserted that the next government will conduct a census and delimitation exercise soon after the elections, setting in motion the process to make women’s reservation a reality.
Shah indicated that women’s reservation will become a reality after 2029.
“A narrative is being set on social media that the Bill should not be supported as it will not be implemented in the upcoming elections Will the reservation be implemented early, if you do not support the Bill? Then too it will be implemented only after 2029. Support the Bill. At least make a beginning (Shree Ganesh toh kijiye),” Shah said.