New Delhi: Prime Minister Narendra Modi today said he was delighted about the passage of the women's quota bill through the Lok Sabha and thanked the MPS across party lines who helped make it happen. The bill got the support of 454 MPs and only two MPs voted against it.
"Delighted at the passage of The Constitution (One Hundred and Twenty-Eighth Amendment) Bill, 2023 in the Lok Sabha with such phenomenal support. I thank MPs across Party lines who voted in support of this Bill," PM Modi posted on X, formerly Twitter.
"The Nari Shakti Vandan Adhiniyam is a historic legislation which will further boost women empowerment and will enable even greater participation of women in our political process," he added.
The bill will be presented in Rajya Sabha tomorrow, the Day Four of the special session.
The implementation of the quota, though, can take place only after a census and delimitation, which pushes it back by at least six years -- a matter that has provided ammunition to the Opposition.
While the Congress and Tamil Nadu's ruling DMK have demanded that the quota be implemented without any delay, Mayawati and Arvind Kejriwal's Aam Aadmi Party have declared that the bill is a ruse to fool women.
Bahujan Samaj Party chief Mayawati alleged the bill was an a ruse to draw the votes of the women ahead of next year's Lok Sabha elections. The bill, she added, doesn't intend to give reservations to women.
""According to this bill, the reservation will not be provided to women in the country in the coming 15-16 years. After the passing of this bill, it wouldn't be implemented immediately. First, a census of the country would be conducted and after this delimitation of seats would be done," Mayawati was quoted as saying to news agency Press Trust of India.
"It is clear that this bill was not brought with the intention of giving reservations to women. But to give an allurement to the women before the upcoming elections," PTI quoted her as saying.
Senior AAP leader Sanjay Singh said the bill, with riders of census and delimitation, has ensured that it will not be implemented before 2039.
Congress leader Sachin Pilot called the introduction of the women's reservation bill a "shugufa" -- suggesting that it was a "stunt" meant to mislead.