NEW DELHI: BJP president Nitin Nabin on Friday chaired a meeting of state unit presidents and key officials at the national and state levels to chart out communication on the Nari Shakti Vandhan Adhiniyam or Women’s Reservation Bill that will be taken up during the next session of Parliament, starting April 16.
This outreach has been planned across India to highlight the bill that will pave the way for implementation of 33% quotas for women in Parliament and state legislatures.
The Union Cabinet this week gave its approval to introduce two bills amending the Women’s Reservation Act and a bill establishing a delimitation commission for the purpose of forming new constituencies.
The government has proposed increasing Lok Sabha seats to 816 seats from the current 543 seats, of which 272 seats are reserved for women.
According to a party official, the awareness program will be launched after Parliament approves the draft laws. “BJP from the beginning has been supportive of women’s reservation. We already have a reservation policy for women in the organization and we support the move to get more representation for women who apply for Adiabadi (half of the population)…” the functionary said.
The official said the outreach is aimed at identifying BJP’s pro-women policies, administrative interventions like Ujjwala Yojna, financial assistance to women of a certain financial demographic and political empowerment through implementation of quotas.
Women have emerged as an important vote bank for the party, and leaders credit pro-women policies for this support.
The bills will be taken up during the expanded budget session from April 16 to 18. The draft law amendment seeks to separate the border demarcation process from the current population census and redraw electoral districts on the basis of the 2011 census.
This outreach comes on the lines of campaigns organized by the party to mobilize support for bills that were deemed controversial such as the Waqf (Amendment) Act which sought to reform the 1995 law and the VB G Ram G Act, which replaced the pioneering rural jobs scheme MGNREGA.
This communication comes at a time when the opposition has questioned the timing of introducing the bills amid the state elections. As Tamil Nadu, West Bengal and Tamil Nadu go to polls on April 23 and 29, the Congress has alleged that it violates the Model Code of Conduct.
