Congress leader Akhilesh Prasad Singh on Thursday said the initiative to provide 33 per cent reservation for women belongs to the Congress.
He said that it was former Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi whose efforts made it possible to determine the quota for women in village and district panchayats.
However, he opposed the Centre’s move to press for demarcation of boundaries.
“The Women’s Bill should be passed as soon as possible. It was an initiative of the Congress itself. Rajiv Gandhi had worked to secure 33 per cent reservation in village and district councils. The Congress party has always wanted women to get reservation in Lok Sabha and Vidhan Sabha. The way the boundaries are being demarcated should be opposed,” Singh told reporters here.
Meanwhile, BJP MP Harsh V Shringla said the implementation of women’s reservation was part of Prime Minister Modi’s vision of women-led development.
“It is the most important legislation we have had in our country for many years now. It is part of Prime Minister Modi’s vision of women-led development. If women constitute half the population of our country, there should be proper political representation for them in our temple of democracy, which is Parliament. Women’s Reservation Bill All parties should support this bill,” he added.
He pointed out that any party that does not support this bill is anti-women and anti-women’s representation.
“Any party that does not support this bill is anti-women and anti-women representation. The parties that tried to do this in the past and failed are not happy today with the fact that the BJP has taken this initiative,” Shringla said. But all political parties must come together to push through what could become groundbreaking legislation for our country that women in our country expect to happen.”
Earlier, the Center approved draft amendment bills to operationalize Nari Shakti Vandhan Adhiniyam, 2023.
The Center has called a special session of Parliament from April 16 to 18.
The government plans to implement reservation for women before the 2029 general elections through an amendment to the 2023 law and a constitutional amendment to separate the delimitation process from the 2027 census.
The government proposed increasing the number of seats in the House of Representatives to 850, including 815 seats for states and the remaining 35 for federal territories. Lok Sabha has 543 seats at present. (that I)
