NEW DELHI, 18 Jun: Union minister Kiren Rijiju on Thursday described as very upsetting the women’s reservation bill getting defeated in Parliament, and asserted that as Prime Minister Narendra Modi has repeatedly said, justice will be delivered to the country’s women who are 50 per cent of the population.
Rijiju, the Minister of Parliamentary and Minority Affairs, said the amendment to the women reservation bill is extremely critical, and accused the principal opposition party Congress of “instigating” other parties to oppose the legislation.
He expressed hope that those who opposed the Constitution amendment bill would come to their “senses” and support it.
He said that, to pass the amendment bill, it is a constitutional requirement to have two third majority and it is the government’s sincere appeal to all opposition parties to support all bills of the government.
The minister said it is the duty of the government to seek support from all parties for passing the bills but how to pass it, when to pass it are the matters to be discussed later.
Asked about the government’s future course of action on the women reservation bill, Rijiju said, “I had said when the women’s reservation bill was defeated, we were very upset. We were upset that the bill could not pass through because of the constitutional requirement of two-thirds majority was not there. But the prime minister has said several times that we will ensure that the justice is delivered to the women of India because it deals with the 50 per cent population of the country. So it is my duty to appeal to all the political parties to support all the bills as all the bills are important for us,” he said.
Asked whether there was any back-channel communication with other political parties for bringing the women reservation bill again, the minister said there was no such back-channel requirement because the government has appealed to them from the front.
“When we met them, all of them. The Congress is the only party which instigated the opposition parties not to attend the consultation meeting conducted by the government. We had a meeting with all the important parties, including the Samajwadi Party, and they in fact had quite a very appreciative agreement on the proposal we gave to them. We informed them.
“But maybe they came under Congress pressure that they would not support the bill. But in the future, I hope that everyone will come into senses to support the women’s reservation bill,” he said.
On 17 April, the Modi government had faced a setback as a Constitution amendment bill to implement 33 per cent reservation for women in legislatures in 2029 and increase the number of Lok Sabha seats to 816 was defeated.
While 298 members voted in support of the bill in the Lok Sabha, 230 MPs voted against it. Out of 528 members who voted, the bill required 352 votes for a two-third majority.
According to the Constitution (131st Amendment) Bill, Lok Sabha seats were to be increased to 816 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.
Seats were also to be increased in state and union territory Assemblies to accommodate 33 per cent reservation for women.
On the Shiv Sena (UBT) crisis, Rijiju said, “You can see what happens in the Parliament, I don’t need to say anything separately.”
Asked to comment on Shiv Sena (UBT) Rajya Sabha member Sanjay Raut launching a tirade against the party rebel MPs and giving threats by using expletives, the minister said it was not good to respond to what Raut said.
“It won’t look good because every MP thinks and works for their constituency in their own way. Every party has its own way of working. I won’t comment on which Shiv Sena MP should do what. We seek cooperation from all MPs over bills brought in Parliament. But if Sanjay Raut abuses or blames someone, it won’t be right for me to answer.” (PTI)
