454 Lok Sabha MPs are in favor of the Women’s Reservation Bill giving 33% seats to women in the Lok Sabha and state assemblies, while 2 MPs are against it. Lok Sabha MPs are voting on sections of the bill on the demand of an opposition MP.
Amit Shah replied to the debate on the Constitution (One Hundred and Twenty-eighth Amendment) Bill, 2023. He said that right after the elections, census will be conducted to implement the Women’s Reservation Bill. Before the bill was passed, Amit Shah asked Lok Sabha members, ‘If you do not support women’s quota, will OBC, Muslim reservation happen soon?’
This statement of Amit Shah came when the opposition parties remained adamant on their demand of quota within the quota amid the ongoing debate in the Lok Sabha on the Women’s Reservation Bill. Sonia Gandhi gave party support to the bill, but said, ‘There should be a caste census to ensure reservation for women belonging to Scheduled Castes, Scheduled Tribes and OBCs’. Rahul Gandhi also said that it is an incomplete bill without reservation for OBC women. After Rahul, Amit Shah also addressed the House and defended the bill, saying that the passage of the Women’s Reservation Bill will mark the beginning of a new era.
