Over two days of heated debate in the Lok Sabha over the Constitution (131st Amendment) Bill, which deepened the divide between the BJP and the Opposition, a lighter moment emerged during the post-adjournment interaction between Opposition MPs and the Parliamentary Affairs Minister.
In a post on X, Congress leader Shashi Tharoor shared a selfie after adjourning the session with Parliamentary Affairs Minister Kiren Rijiju. Tharoor quipped that when Rijiju explained why he called the opposition “anti-women”, it was pointed out that no one could call him (Tharoor) anti-women.
“Small post adjournment gathering of Opposition MPs in Lok Sabha with charming Parliamentary Affairs Minister. When @KirenRijiju explained why he and his party were calling the opposition ‘mahila virodhi’, I pointed out to him that no one can ever call me anti-women! He conceded the point…”, he wrote in the caption.
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Tharoor went on to praise the women, describing them as the “better half of their species”. He added that they deserve representation not only in Parliament but in every institution.
“Let’s face it, women are the better half of the human race. They are the improved models: Humans 2.0. They deserve representation in Parliament and in every institution.”
He also criticized the government, saying its progress should not be linked to border demarcation.
“Do not link their progress to the harmful and potentially dangerous demarcation process that could destroy our democracy,” Tharoor added.
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Tharoor criticizes the Constitution (131st Amendment) Bill.
The Kerala MP has publicly criticized the bill, accusing the government of rushing, similar to what it did with demonetisation.
In his Lok Sabha speech on Friday, Tharoor said the delimitation, or redrawing of electoral districts, had been hastily proposed by the government, “the same haste it showed on demonetisation”.
“Unfortunately, we all know the damage that (demonetisation) has caused to the country. Demarcating the borders will turn out to be a political process of demonetisation,” he said, adding: “Don’t do it.”
On several occasions over the past two days, Tharoor described the link between the Women’s Reservation Bill and the demarcation process as wrong.
“The government’s attempt to deliberately link border demarcation with detention of women is very wrong,” he said on Saturday.
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The Constitution (131st Amendment) Bill to amend the Women’s Quota Act was introduced in the Lok Sabha on Thursday. Two related bills have also been introduced in the House – the Delimitation Bill and the Union Territories Laws (Amendment) Bill – to implement the proposed amended women’s quota law in the union territories of Delhi, Puducherry and Jammu and Kashmir.
However, the bill was not passed in the Lok Sabha as it failed to cross the required majority mark. While 298 members voted in favor of the government, 230 opposition members voted against the proposed law. The bill requires a two-thirds majority, or 352 votes.
