Congress leader Jairam Ramesh accused the Modi government on Monday of reversing its position on the Women's Reservation Bill to shift focus from a serious economic crisis and sway voters in five states facing upcoming elections.
He said the government only acted 30 months after Congress called for immediate implementation of the bill.
In a post on X, Ramesh referred to Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s speech in Assam, in which Modi urged Congress not to politicise the proposed amendment to the Women’s Reservation Act.
“In Assam today during the election campaign, the Prime Minister urged unanimous support for the women’s reservation bill in the special session of Parliament. How much more bogus can he get? The Nari Shakti Vandan Adhiniyam, 2023 was passed unanimously by Parliament in Sept 2023. The Indian National Congress had demanded its implementation from the 2024 election itself,” Jairam Ramesh said.
He added: “But the Modi Govt introduced a condition that the reservation will come into effect only after delimitation and census is completed. This is Article 334-A that had got inserted then.”
Jairam Ramesh asserted that Prime Minister Modi is now using the government’s revised position as an election issue. “Now all of a sudden to divert public attention from the grave economic crisis and in order to influence voters in the five states the PM has decided that Article 334-A should be amended to do away with delimitation and census pre-requisite. He has woken up after 30 months and done another U-turn,” he said.
“Now he is using this as an election issue. The people in the five states will give him a resounding reply and decisively reject the BJP,” Ramesh added.
On Monday, PM Modi urged Congress to offer full support to the proposed Women’s Reservation Bill amendment, which is scheduled to be discussed during a special parliamentary session later this month. He emphasised that the opposition should not politicise the matter.
Addressing a rally in Assam, Modi announced that the special parliamentary sitting on April 16, 17, and 18 will deliberate provisions to implement one-third reservation for women starting with the 2029 Lok Sabha elections, and he expressed hope for unanimous approval.
He accused Congress of delaying the women’s reservation issue for years and recalled that the Nari Shakti Vandan Act, which guarantees 33% reservation for women in Parliament and the Assam Legislative Assembly, was enacted during the BJP-led NDA government.
“A special session of Parliament is scheduled for April 16, 17, and 18, in which there will be a discussion on amendments to the women’s reservation law. Provisions will be made that at least 33 per cent of women become MPs in the 2029 Lok Sabha elections,” Modi said.
He added, “I have also urged Congress that it should not do politics on this, give full support to the amendment so that a decision in favour of women is made unanimously.”