Congress's 'poll jhumla' jibe at Centre over women's reservation bill

The women's reservation bill seeks to reserve 33 seats out of all for women in the Lok Sabha and state legislative assemblies.

The Congress on Tuesday described the women’s reservation bill as a “poll jumla” (an empty promise) and a “huge betrayal” of hopes of crores of Indian women and girls. Union minister Arjun Ram Meghwal tabled the bill in the Lok Sabha on the second day of the five-day special Parliament session.

Congress chief Mallikarjun Kharge with Congress leader Rahul Gandhi

“The women's reservation bill is a 'poll jumla' as the Modi government is yet to conduct the 2021 Census and has said that it will come into effect only after that: It is a huge betrayal of hopes of crores of Indian women and girls,” news agency PTI quoted the Congress as saying.

The women's reservation bill, also known as the Constitution (One Hundred and Eighth Amendment) Bill, 2008, seeks to reserve 33 seats out of all for women in the Lok Sabha and state legislative assemblies. According to the bill, one-third of the total number of seats reserved for Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes will be reserved for women from those groups. These reserved seats may be allotted by rotation to different constituencies in the state or union territory.

Modi on women's reservation bill in Parliament

Modi made a strong pitch for the women's reservation bill in both Houses of Parliament and urged to pass the bill unanimously.

“On this historic occasion in the new Parliament building, as the first proceeding of the House, the beginning of all the Parliamentarians opening gateways for women power is being done with this crucial decision. Taking forward our resolve of women-led development, our government is bringing an important constitutional amendment bill”, the PM said in Lok Sabha.

He added, “Discussion on Women's Reservation Bill happened for a long time. During Atal Bihari Vajpayee's regime women's reservation bill was introduced several times but there was not enough majority to pass the Bill, and because of this dream remained incomplete.”

(With inputs from PTI)