Panaji:The Congress party on Monday demanded that the BJP-led government should immediately implement the women’s reservation bill without waiting for any delay.
National Coordinator of All India Congress Committee (AICC) Social Media and Digital Platforms Bhavya Narsimhamurty speaking to the reporters in Panaji alleged that Modi-led government was not willing to implement the bill. “BJP wants to use it as an election gimmick,” she said.
She recalled that in the year 1989, then PM Rajiv Gandhi introduced a law reserving 33 per cent of seats in local bodies for women.
“However, when the bill was introduced, the stalwarts of BJP Lal Krishna Advani, Atal Bihari Vajpayee, Yashwant Singh and Ram Jethmalani voted against the bill. The bill was passed in Lok Sabha but failed in Rajya Sabha by only seven votes,” Narsimhamurthy said.
She said that in December 1992, Prime Minister P V Narasimha Rao championed the passage of the 73rd and 74th amendments to the Constitution, which reserved one-third of seats for women in Panchayati Raj institutions and offices of the chairperson at all levels of Panchayati Raj institutions, and in urban local bodies respectively.
“In several states, seats were reserved for women within the quotas for Scheduled Castes, Scheduled Tribes, and Other Backward Classes (OBCs). Today, the vision of Shri Rajiv Gandhi has led to the empowerment of 15 lakh women, around 40 percent of elected representatives in India,” she said.
Narsimhamurthy said that in the year 2010, the UPA government under PM Manmohan Singh introduces Womens’ Reservation Bill, Bill passes the Rajya Sabha.
“The Bill reserved 33 per cent seats for women in the Lok Sabha and Vidhan Sabhas, and included sub-quotas for SCs and STs. The Rajya Sabha passed the Bill on March 9, 2010. However, because of the lack of consensus, it was not passed in Lok Sabha. The bills introduced/ passed in Rajya Sabha do not lapse, hence the Women’s Reservation Bill remained very much active,” she said.
Speaking further, she said that in the year 2016, Congress President Sonia Gandhi demands that Modi government passes the Women’s Reservation Bill in the Lok Sabha.
Again, she said, in the year 2018, then Congress President Rahul Gandhi demands that Modi government passes the Women’s Reservation Bill in the Lok Sabha.
She questioned why did the Modi government not implement the Women’s Reservation Bill for 9.5 years despite the BJP having full majority? “Why is the government imposing conditions of Census and Delimitation as a delaying tactic?,” she added.
