After Vice President's Comment, Buzz Over Women's Quota In Special Session

The bill to reserve 33% of seats in the Lok Sabha and state assemblies for women has got a fillip after Vice President Jagdeep Dhankhar said on Monday that the day is not far when women will get due representation in the country's legislatures. The legislation had been passed by the Rajya Sabha in 2010 but lapsed after the Lok Sabha did not clear it.

The Vice President's comment has sparked speculation that the women's reservation bill may be moved during the special session of parliament from September 18-22, the agenda for which is yet to be revealed. 

On Tuesday, Telangana MLC and Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao's daughter K Kavitha also wrote a letter to presidents of all 47 political parties with representation in parliament and urged them to set aside political differences and prioritise the passage of the bill in the upcoming special session. 

A bill seeking to reserve 33% seats for women was first moved by the Deve Gowda government in 1996. The UPA government then reintroduced the legislation, officially known as the Constitution (One Hundred and Eighth Amendment) Bill, in 2008. 

The legislation was passed by the Rajya Sabha in 2010, but the 15th Lok Sabha could not pass the bill and it lapsed following its dissolution in 2014. Parties such as the Samajwadi Party and the Rashtriya Janata Dal have opposed the bill in its current form, demanding "a quota within the quota". 

The parties have argued that the reservation should provide for a quota for Dalit, backward, extremely backward and minority communities. An RJD leader had said that the party does not have a problem if the reservation for women needs to be hiked to 50% to provide a quota to these sections, but it is “meaningless” without it.

Being a constitutional amendment, the bill will require the support of two-thirds of the members in the Lok Sabha. It was part of the BJP's election manifesto in 2014 and, sources said, its passage is likely to benefit the party by helping it consolidate the votes of women.

Speaking at an event on "Women's Participation in Nation Building" at a college in Jaipur on Monday, Vice President Dhankhar had said that the day is not far when women will get their due representation in Parliament and legislative assemblies through an amendment to the Constitution. He said that if this reservation is given soon, India will become a world power before 2047.

Mr Dhankhar asserted that the sky is the limit for women as they are creating new models of success in every field, including administration, the corporate world, and the Army.

In her letter on Tuesday, Bharat Rashtra Samithi Leader K Kavitha, who is also a former Lok Sabha MP, asserted "that increased women's representation is not a matter of exclusivity but a means to build a more equitable and balanced political landscape". She urged all parties to recognise the urgency of this matter and back the women's reservation bill.

In a written reply to a question in July, the Centre had told the Rajya Sabha that the women's reservation bill requires "careful consideration" on the basis of consensus among all political parties before it is brought to Parliament. 

In his reply, Law Minister Arjun Ram Meghwal had said gender justice is an important commitment of the government.

In March, the Congress had asked the BJP to make its stand clear on the bill and demanded that it be tabled in the Lok Sabha.