Raipur: Chhattisgarh Chief Minister Vishnu Deo Sai on Thursday tabled a resolution in the state Assembly seeking the immediate implementation of one-third reservation for women in Parliament and all state legislative Assemblies after completing the delimitation process.
A one-day special session of the Assembly was convened to deliberate on the resolution, after the Constitution Amendment Bill to implement 33 per cent reservation for women was defeated in the Lok Sabha.
The Constitution Amendment Bill to implement reservation for women in legislatures in 2029 and increase the number of Lok Sabha seats was defeated in the Lower House on April 17 as 298 members voted in support of the Bill, and 230 MPs voted against it. Out of the 528 members who voted, the Bill required 352 votes for a two-thirds majority.
The Bill proposed to increase the number of Lok Sabha seats to a maximum of 850 from the current 543 to "operationalise" the women's reservation law before the 2029 Parliamentary polls, following a delimitation exercise based on the 2011 Census data.
Presenting the resolution in the Chhattisgarh Assembly on Thursday, CM Sai said that for women's dignity, overall development and empowerment, one-third reservation for them in the Lok Sabha and all legislative Assemblies should be enforced immediately following the delimitation exercise.
Speaker Raman Singh allotted four hours for discussion on the resolution.
However, Leader of Opposition Charan Das Mahant said he has also submitted a similar resolution, appealing to the Centre to provide 33 per cent reservation for women in the Lok Sabha and Assemblies within the existing strength at the earliest, but it was not taken up.
The Speaker then said Mahant's proposal was a non-official resolution and could not be admitted because the special session's agenda had been pre-decided. He said that the session was convened for official business and disallowed the Opposition's resolution.