Womens Reservation Not A Political Issue For BJP: Amit Shah Tells Lok Sabha

NEW DELHI: Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Wednesday said that the Women’s Reservation is not a “political issue” but it is about “recognition. Shah said this addressing the ongoing debate on the Women’s Reservation Bill introduced by the Centre in Lok Sabha earlier on Wednesday. Shah stated that the BJP is not doing any politics on the Bill since it is seriously concerned about the welfare of women in this country. For some parties, women’s empowerment can be a political issue, while for others, it can be a tool to win elections. But for the BJP and PM Modi, women’s empowerment is not a political issue, it’s a matter of recognition, the Union Home Minister said in Lok Sabha.

Highlighting several women-centric initiatives taken by the Narendra Modi government at the Centre, the Home Minister said, “Our government has provided 100 million LPG connections to women, and constructed 40 million houses.”

While referring to the Beti Bachao, Beti Padhao campaign, Shah said it has improved the sex ratio and the dropout rate of women from education has drastically reduced. The Union Home Minister told the lawmakers that nearly 70% of Jan Dhan accounts are under women’s name and all the money allotted for various schemes now go into the accounts of women.

The Lok Sabha is discussing the Nari Shakti Vandan Adhiniyam Bill which was tabled by the Centre for discussion at 11 AM earlier today, after the proceedings of the House began. The 128th Constitutional Amendment Bill, 2023 seeks to reserve 33 per cent seats in Lok Sabha and all state Assemblies for women.

Arjun Ram Meghwal kicked off the discussion on the Bill that seeks to bring in 33% reservation for women in the lower House and all Assemblies. He stated that the Bill was an important step in women’s empowerment and “shows the way to the world”. The Bill will be taken up in Rajya Sabha on September 21, government sources said.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi had earlier made a strong pitch for the women’s reservation bill saying that his government is committed to ensuring that the ‘Nari Shakti Vandan Adhiniyam’ aimed at expanding women’s participation in the Lok Sabha and state assemblies becomes a law, as he urged MPs of both houses of parliament to pass the bill unanimously.

While several parties have welcomed the bill, AIMIM MP Asaduddin Owaisi has expressed his disapproval of the ‘Nari Shakti Vandan Adhiniyam’ (women reservation bill) saying that he is against the bill as it does not include the quota for women from the Muslim and OBC communities.

Opposing the Women’s Reservation Bill in the Lok Sabha, the AIMIM leader said, ‘The Bill is against the Muslims of India. It deceives the Muslim Community.”

The Hyderabad MP further said, “The Modi government wants to increase representation only for ‘savarana’ women. This bill will affect the representation of the OBC and Muslim women.” “This is a woman deception bill, anti-OBC, anti-Muslim bill,” he said in his speech.