Several political parties hail passage of women’s quota bill in Parliament

New Delhi [India]: Several political parties set aside their differences to unequivocally call the passage of the Women’s Reservation Bill, aptly titled ‘Nari Shakti Vandan Adhiniyam’, as historic.

As the bill, women’s reservation bill cleared its final legislative hurdle at the Rajya Sabha on Thursday, Congress MP Joshimani, expressed her delight, saying, “We are happy that this important piece of legislation is finally close to seeing the light of day.”

However, she flagged concerns over the implementation of the Bill, saying, “It is sad, however, that the law may not be implemented anytime soon.”

Another Congress MP Ranjeet Ranjan termed the passage of the Bill as historic.

“The Bill has now been passed by both the Houses. This is a moment to savour for women in our country,” she said.

She added, however, “We demanded the Bill be implemented immediately with a sub-quota for OBC women. The demand wasn’t considered.”

The Rajya Sabha, on Thursday, passed the bill, which provides 33 per cent reservation for women in the Lok Sabha as well as the state legislative assemblies, unanimously with 214 members voting in support and none against.

Lok Janshakti Party (LJP) chief Chirag Paswan has said that the Nari Shakti Vandan Adhiniyam reflects the strong will of the Prime Minister to empower and strengthen the women.

Taking to social media platform, X, Chirag said, “Calling a special session of the Parliament and passing the ‘Nari Shakti Vandan Adhiniyam’, which was pending for decades, shows the strong will of the Prime Minister towards women that the resolution to empower and strengthen the women under the leadership of the Prime Minister, Respected Shri @narendramodi ji.”

“The central government is continuously moving forward. Many thanks to all the honorable MPs who voted in support of this bill. The first session of the new Parliament will be written in golden letters of history,” Paswan said in the social media post on Friday.

Earlier in the day, BJP leader Bansuri Swaraj, said, “I’m very happy and I express my gratitude to PM Modi…Thanks to every Member of Parliament who voted in its favour and helped in passing this bill…You know that our population has increased so once the census is done delimitation will happen and boundaries of each constituency will be redrawn and then the 33 per cent reservation will be implemented.”

Apart from it, BJP MP Diya Kumari thanked Prime Minister Narendra Modi, saying, “Women are celebrating today. We are very happy with the passage of this Bill. PM Modi has finally made this dream come true. This piece of legislation was the need of the hour and he (PM Modi) realised it. He spearheaded efforts to have the Bill tabled and passed in all of two days.”

Also reacting to the passage of the Bill, Jharkhand Mukti Morcha (JMM) MP Mahua Maji said, “This is a historic moment for women. The government received bipartisan support for the Bill in both Houses of Parliament. The significant takeaway for me was that the members set aside their political differences to vote for the Bill.”

“We would have preferred an expeditious implementation of the Bill with the provision of a sub-quota for OBC women,” she added.

Following the passage of the bill in Parliament, chants of ‘Modi Modi’ were raised by women MPs as they took turns to thank Prime Minister Narendra Modi for the passage of the draft legislation.

Earlier, on Wednesday, the bill aced the legislative test in the Lok Sabha as it was passed by a brute majority of 454 votes in favour and just 2 against.