Evening Picture: Modi talks ‘history’ with women’s Bill, Oppn questions ‘delayed’ enforcement

कल ही कैबिनेट में महिला आरक्षण विधेयक को मंजूरी दी गई है।

आज 19 सितंबर की ये तारीख इसी लिए इतिहास में अमरत्व को प्राप्त करने जा रही है।

– पीएम श्री @narendramodi

पूरा देखें: https://t.co/Q4keijin2d pic.twitter.com/405uZ97GWo

— BJP (@BJP4India) September 19, 2023

नारीशक्ति वंदन अधिनियम के माध्यम से हमारा लोकतंत्र और मजबूत होगा।

मैं देश की माताओं, बहनों, बेटियों को नारीशक्ति वंदन अधिनियम के लिए बहुत-बहुत बधाई देता हूं।

– पीएम @narendramodi pic.twitter.com/KAb7oRciSU

— BJP (@BJP4India) September 19, 2023

While most Opposition parties had been calling for a women’s reservation Bill in the runup to the special session and are expected to vote in its favour, many criticised the government over the timeline of the Bill’s implementation. The reservation is set to come into effect earliest by 2029 as per the Bill, following a delimitation exercise after the new Census. Work on the latest Census is not yet underway. Many INDIA bloc parties, pointing out these nuances, called the Bill an “election gimmick” and demanded its implementation for the 2024 Lok Sabha polls.

The Congress, in particular, was sharp in its criticism, saying the Bill was a “colossal betrayal” of Indian women as long as the 2021 Census remains incomplete. Congress Rajya Sabha MP Jairam Ramesh, noting that India is the only G20 country yet to carry out its decadal census, criticised the government’s “vague promise” on implementation and described the Bill as “EVM – Event Management”.

What more can be expected from you, Mr. Prime Minister? This colossal betrayal shatters the hopes of millions of Indian women and girls.

The Women’s Reservation Bill is in limbo, tied to the next Census, and the critical delimitation process hinges on the next Census. The Modi… pic.twitter.com/rZbDY6Y8zf

— Congress (@INCIndia) September 19, 2023

In a season of election jumlas, this one is the biggest of them all! A huge betrayal of the hopes of crores of Indian women and girls.

As we had pointed out earlier, Modi government has not yet conducted the 2021 Decadal Census making India the only country in G20 that has…

— Jairam Ramesh (@Jairam_Ramesh) September 19, 2023

In his address in the Lok Sabha, Congress leader Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury said a women’s reservation Bill was passed in the Rajya Sabha in 2010 under the Manmohan Singh-led UPA government. Rajya Sabha MP P Chidambaram, in a post on X, called the Congress the “author” of the Bill. He also posted screenshots of BJP IT cell chief Amit Malviya criticising women’s reservation in 2010 while challenging him to do the same for the current Bill.

डॉ. मनमोहन सिंह जी के समय राज्यसभा में पास हुआ महिला आरक्षण बिल आज तक जीवित है।

हमारी CWC की बैठक में भी यह मांग की गई है कि महिला आरक्षण के बिल को पास किया जाए।

पूर्व कांग्रेस अध्यक्ष श्रीमती सोनिया गांधी जी ने महिला आरक्षण बिल के लिए प्रधानमंत्री नरेंद्र मोदी जी को पत्र भी… pic.twitter.com/IsUL1POlMi

— Congress (@INCIndia) September 19, 2023

Malviya, however, said the Congress was “delusional” in attempting to claim credit for the reservation Bill after “dragging its feet” on the matter since the Bill was first introduced in 1996 by the Janata Dal government. Incidentally, women’s reservation was part of the BJP’s election manifestos in 2014 and 2019.

Sonia Gandhi must be delusional to think that the Women Reservation Bill is ‘theirs’…

Let me remind the Congress that Rajiv Gandhi even failed to secure reservation for women in rural and urban local bodies. The Bill he introduced in Sept 1989, failed in the Rajya Sabha.

It… https://t.co/s5ZknlZ3HT

— Amit Malviya (@amitmalviya) September 19, 2023

The Janata Dal (Secular), too, weighed in on where the credit for the Bill should go. In a post on X, former Karnataka Chief Minister H D Kumaraswamy praised his father and former PM H D Deve Gowda’s record on women’s representation. The Bill was first introduced in Parliament in 1996 when Deve Gowda was the PM. Kumaraswamy also claimed parties in the INDIA coalition were “among those who opposed the Bill” at the time.

I warmly welcome the tabling of the Bill in the Lok Sabha proposing a 33% reservation for women in the Legislative Assembly and Lok Sabha.

This historic Bill was first introduced in the Rajya Sabha on September 12, 1996, during the tenure of Prime Minister Shri @H_D_Devegowda.…

— ಹೆಚ್.ಡಿ.ಕುಮಾರಸ್ವಾಮಿ | H.D.Kumaraswamy (@hd_kumaraswamy) September 19, 2023

The Aam Aadmi Party, too, criticised the 2029 implementation of the Bill at a press conference by Delhi minister Atishi, who called it the “Mahila Bewakoof Banao Bill”. The party also questioned the BJP record on women’s welfare by raising the ongoing sexual harassment case involving former Wrestling Foundation of India chief and BJP MP Brij Bhushan Singh.

सैद्धांतिक तौर पर AAP महिला आरक्षण बिल का समर्थन करती है, लेकिन आज जो बिल पेश किया गया, वह महिला आरक्षण बिल नहीं है, यह महिलाओं को मूर्ख बनाने वाला बिल है।

पहले जनगणना होगी, फिर संख्या के आधार पर Delimitation होगी कि किन सीटों को आरक्षित करना है। इसमें 4-5 साल लगेंगे तो ये बिल… pic.twitter.com/GuBSONIvJH

— AAP (@AamAadmiParty) September 19, 2023

BJP Brijbhushan की पार्टी है, महिला विरोधी पार्टी है, Modi को महिलाओं के Well Being में कोई interest नहीं।

हमारी प्रधानमंत्री Modi से मांग है, कि Delimitation और Census का इंतज़ार ना करके महिलाओं का आरक्षण 2024 के चुनाव से ही किया जाए।

– @AtishiAAP pic.twitter.com/fkhmjQEnHW

— AAP (@AamAadmiParty) September 19, 2023

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Former Uttar Pradesh CM and Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav, in a post on X, said the women’s reservation Bill should make specific accommodations for women belonging to SC, ST and other minority communities.

महिला आरक्षण लैंगिक न्याय और सामाजिक न्याय का संतुलन होना चाहिए।
इसमें पिछड़े, दलित, अल्पसंख्यक, आदिवासी (PDA) की महिलाओं का आरक्षण निश्चित प्रतिशत रूप में स्पष्ट होना चाहिए।

— Akhilesh Yadav (@yadavakhilesh) September 19, 2023