‘No jumla’: Nirmala Sitharaman hits back at Opposition on women's reservation bill

Earlier, the Congress on Tuesday described the women's reservation bill as a “poll jumla”.

Union finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Thursday hit back at Opposition Congress' “poll jumla” (an empty promise) jibe on the women's reservation bill, saying that the government does not play politics in women-related matters.

Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman speaks in the Rajya Sabha during the special session of the Parliament, in New Delhi (PTI)

“The bill not a jumla. I think the context in which the home minister had said before is well understood, but it is not convenient for us to use jumla again…We forget the context,” Sitharaman said while addressing the Rajya Sabha on the fourth day of the five-day special Parliament session.

Stating that it will not be possible to implement the bill before 2024, the finance minister said, “Once the census is over and delimitation is done, you are going to have women's reservation.”

“...In women-related matters, we do not play any politics. It is an article of faith for the Prime Minister and therefore we do everything that we have done whether it is Article 370, triple talaq, or now the Women's Reservation Bill,” Sitharaman added.

Earlier, the Congress on Tuesday described the women's reservation bill as a “poll jumla” and a “huge betrayal” of hopes of crores of Indian women and girls.

“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.

Women's reservation bill passed by Lok Sabha

On Wednesday, the women's reservation bill that seeks to reserve 33 seats out of all for women in the Lok Sabha and state legislative assemblies was passed by the Lok Sabha. It was last tabled in the Rajya Sabha in 2010 during the then UPA government.

According to the legislation, 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.