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Hooda demands implementation of 2023 Women’s Reservation Act
Addressing a press conference here, Hooda alleged that the BJP government’s ‘anti-women’ reservation policy was exposed before the country
Former Haryana chief minister and leader of Opposition (LoP) Bhupinder Singh Hooda on Wednesday said that the Union government should implement 33% reservation for women in the 543-member Lok Sabha in accordance with the Women Reservation Bill passed in 2023 instead of doing politics over Constitution (131st Amendment) Bill, 2026, which was defeated in the lower house recently.
Addressing a press conference here, Hooda alleged that the BJP government’s ‘anti-women’ reservation policy was exposed before the country. “Women’s reservation has been a long-standing commitment of the Congress party. In contrast, the BJP government stalled the initiative for political gain and is now attempting to create confusion among the public. The Nari Shakti Vandan Adhiniyam (Women’s Reservation Act) of 2023 has become an integral part of the Constitution. In September 2023, both houses of Parliament unanimously passed the bill, and it subsequently received the President’s assent,” he added.
He alleged that BJP has failed to implement the reservation even after three years, because it lacks vision of implementing it. “In fact, the BJP did not even undertake the administrative task of notifying the reservation bill until 9.55 pm on April 16, 2026. This means that for a full 30 months, this crucial legislation was not even formally notified,” Hooda added.
He said the government deliberately introduced a delimitation bill in the Parliament with the specific objective of further delaying this reservation, without conducting a census, and cunningly tagged the women’s reservation clause onto it. “The Opposition is now demanding that the bill, which was passed back in 2023, be implemented immediately,” he added.
The LoP said that the provision for 33% reservation for women in Panchayati Raj Institutions is a legacy of the Congress party. “It was the Congress that successfully passed this Bill in the Rajya Sabha, where we had the necessary numerical strength in 2010. It could not be passed in the Lok Sabha because at that time Congress was leading a coalition government at the time. Even the women reservation bill was passed in 2023, and enacted into law, the BJP failed to implement it,” he alleged.
