Congress questions BJP's intent on women's reservation implementation

Congress Slams BJP's 'Unclear Intent' on Women's Quota

The Congress party continues to pick holes in the centre's move to move 3 key bill including the one for 33% reservation for women in the Lok Sabha. Congress MP Kumari Selja on Friday said that while every other party has clearly elaborated their stance on Women's Reservation and the specific objections they have with its process of implementation, it is the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) which has not shown clear intent on it.

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She said that the government could have implemented the reservation with the existing 543 seats with the original 2023 law itself, but they did not even notify it till now. "Everyone has made their stance clear. Every party in Opposition has explained how they are opposing it and why we are doing so. The BJP's position is not at all clear. You had bought in the reservation (with the passing of 2023 bill), but you did. You haven't even started the process to implement reservations for the previous law until now. You could have implemented with the current 543 seats. You didn't even notify the previous law that was enacted. Now they stand exposed," Selja told ANI.

Allies Defend Fast-Tracking, Call for Consensus

However, Lok Janshakti Party (Ram Vilas) MP Shambhavi said that the introduced amendments ot the bill are being done to fast track it for 2029 election, questioning the Opposition party's motives since they oppose it. "It is being fast-tracked so that it can be implemented by 2029. If delimitation is happening and good governance is being implemented on the ground through delimitation, then why does the opposition have a problem with it?", she told ANI.

MP Aparajita Sarangi also called for consensus on the issue, saying that any party should keep its ideology aside and present one stand for ensuring representation of half the population. "When it's such a subject that positively impacts half the population of the country, I feel that without looking at gender, without looking at political parties, without looking at ideology, one should stand with that half of the population," she told ANI.

Act Notified Amid Procedural Objections

The Union Law and Justice Ministry has notified the Nari Shakti Vandhan Adhiniyam Act, which grants 33 per cent of reservation to women in Parliament, even as the Lower House continued to debate amendments to its implementation for 2029 elections.

The notification has elicited strong reactions from MPs, with Congress leader KC Venugopal claimed that the treasury benches in the Lok Sabha are treating Parliament like a "rubber stamp" without any regard for law-making procedure. (ANI)