In a historic move, the Centre last week introduced the long-pending Women’s Reservation Bill in Parliament, which was subsequently passed in both the Lok Sabha and the Rajya Sabha. While the bill was supported almost unanimously by all Opposition parties, the Congress Party has raised questions about certain provisions of the bill.
The party recently held press conferences in 21 cities across the country. During this, 21 women leaders of the Congress held a press conference to “expose” the Prime Minister Narendra Modi-led government’s strategy on women’s reservation. In Lucknow, Congress national spokesperson Supriya Shrinate criticised the Centre, stating that the Nari Shakti Vandana Act seemed like it was “prepared hastily”. Shrinate then went on to say that if the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) wanted to implement women’s reservation, they should have done it immediately. “The BJP’s tagline seems to be: There is no family we haven’t deceived,” she claimed.
“Women will have to wait to reap the benefits of the Women’s Reservation Bill. India’s Home Minister, Amit Shah, talks about implementing it in 2029, but according to other MPs, it won’t be implemented until 2039,” the Congress leader said.
Shrinate echoed the Congress’ demands that it should include provisions for Scheduled Tribes. “When former Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi introduced the Women’s Reservation Bill, seven people opposed it, including BJP MPs. However, the Congress has always supported the bill for women’s rights.” She then attacked the party, saying the BJP’s women MPs had remained silent on a number of issues such as the Manipur violence and that “this shows that there is a difference between BJP’s words and actions.”