New Delhi, Sept 20 (Representative) The Congress and the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) tore into the BJP-led Central government over the Women’s Reservation Bill tabled in the Lok Sabha on Tuesday and raised questions about its date of implementation. While the Congress dubbed the Bill as the ‘biggest election jumla”, the AAP dismissed it as an attempt to “befool” women ahead of the 2024 Lok Sabha poll. The BJP-led Central government tabled the constitutional amendment bill on day two of the special session of parliament. The legislation proposes to reserve one-third of seats in the Lok Sabha and state assemblies for women.In a post on X, Congress General Secretary Jairam Ramesh said, “In a season of election jumlas, this one is the biggest of them all! A huge betrayal of the hopes of crores of Indian women and girls”. “As we had pointed out earlier, the Modi government has not yet conducted the 2021 Decadal Census making India the only country in G20 that has failed to carry out the Census,” he said.
Continuing his assault on the Modi government, the Congress General Secretary added: “Now it says that the reservation for women will come into effect only following the first decadal Census conducted AFTER the Women’s Reservation Bill has become an Act. When will this Census take place?”. Jairam said the Bill has proposed that the reservation would come into effect only after the publication of the next Census and the subsequent delimitation exercise. “Will the Census and delimitation be done before the 2024 elections?” he asked. “Basically the Bill gets the headlines today with a very vague promise of its implementation date. This is nothing but EVM — EVent Management”, he added.AAP leader Raghav Chadha alleged that the bill has been framed without the will to execute it. Taking to X, Chadha wrote, “We demand immediate implementation of Women’s Reservation Bill without further delay.’ “As per Clause 5 of the Women’s Reservation Bill, the reservation will kick in only after a delimitation exercise and a fresh census – post the Constitution (One Hundred and Twenty Eighth Amendment) Act, 2023.
“He contended that there would be no women reservation for the 2024 Elections, and the nation and the women will have to wait for fresh Census and delimitation for its implementation.another AAP leader and Delhi Cabinet Minister Atishi alleged that the Bill is an attempt to ‘befool’ women of the country ahead of the 2024 Lok Sabha Elections and deceive them. “If PM Narendra Modi has the intention to give reservation to women, he must give it in 2024 elections; why wait for census and delimitation after notification of Bill,” She said. Atishi questioned Why the PM can’t provide reservation to women in the 2024 elections without waiting for the census and delimitation. :If he truly cares about women, why doesn’t he implement the bill on the existing 543 seats in the Lok Sabha?”