Delhi/Hyderabad, Sept 19 (Hydnow): The ‘Nari Shakti Vandan Abhiyan Bills, which provides 33 percent reservation for women in Parliament and state legislatures, was finally tabled in the Lok Sabha today.
With this, the question arises whether this bill will be the first test (Litmus test) for the unity of the INDI Alliance. The reason for those suspicions is that many opposition parties have disagreed with this bill in its current form. Union Minister Arjun Ram Meghwal introduced this bill in the Lok Sabha as soon as the Parliament entered the new building today, it is also named as “Nari Shakti Vandan Abhiyan”.
It may be recalled that this Bill in its current form was previously opposed by some parties like RJD and Samajwadi party. The main demand of these parties is to provide reservations to backward-class women within the 33 percent reservation quota. As it is also a constitutional Bill, the support of two-thirds of the Lok Sabha is required for this Bill. It was also a part of the BJP’s election manifesto in 2014.
It is remarkable that the Women’s Reservation Bill has come before the Parliament in the context of the third meeting of the INDI Alliance meeting in Mumbai on August 31 and the decision to start the consultation on the distribution of seats in the 2024 Lok Sabha elections and conclude it as soon as possible. After the Women’s Reservation Bill was passed in the Rajya Sabha in 2010, RJD and Samajwadi parties withdrew their support to the then Congress-led UPA government. In 2010, this bill was not approved in the Lok Sabha. However, the Left party, Janata Dal-United led by Nitish Kumar supported the Bill.
Meanwhile, Congress Parliamentary Party chairperson Sonia Gandhi responded before the BJP tabled the Women’s Reservation Bill in the Lok Sabha, “This is ours, Apna hai” She said briefly that the Bill was brought by them.
Addressing in Parliament yesterday, Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge and Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha Ahir Ranjan Chaudhary also demanded that the Women’s Reservation Bill be passed. In the recently held two-day meeting of the Congress Working Committee (CWC) in Hyderabad, a resolution was also passed to approve the Women’s Reservation Bill. (Hydnow)
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