The Lok Sabha in the ongoing special session of the Parliament passed the Women’s Reservation Bill, 2023 on Wednesday.

The bill was was introduced in the Rajya Sabha for discussion on Thursday. The Bill grants one-third of seats in the Lok Sabha and state assemblies to women, receiving strong support across party lines.

Following an eight-hour debate involving 60 members, the Lower House passed the Bill with 454 members voting in favour and only two against it.

Why did 2 MPs vote against the Bill and who were they?

Asaduddin Owaisi and Imtiaz Jaleel have voted against the Bill as All India Majlis-E-Ittehadul Muslimeen (AIMIM) opposed the Bill saying that it does not provide for a sub-quota for Muslim and Other Backward Classes (OBC) women.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi was present during the voting on this historic bill, marking the first legislation passed in the new Parliament building.

‘Who are you giving representation to? Those who don’t have representation should be given representation. The major flaw in this bill is that there is no quota for women from Muslim and OBC communities, so we are against it,’ Mr Owaisi told news agency ANI.

‘You are making a bill so that there is representation of the underrepresented. Till now, 17 Lok Sabha elections have taken place in which 8,992 MPs have been elected. Out of these, only 520 were Muslims and in this not even a handful were women. There is a deficit of 50%,’ he added.

Congress Parliamentary Party (CPP) chairperson Sonia Gandhi spoke first on the debate on Wednesday, by advocating for the inclusion of OBC women under the proposed law while extending the Congress.’

She said that any delay in implementing the reservation would constitute a ‘grave injustice’ to women.

Voting and successful passage in Lok Sabha

The Constitution (One Hundred and Twenty-Eighth Amendment) Bill of 2023 received approval following a reply to the motion by Union law minister Arjun Ram Meghwal.

Each clause of the bill also underwent voting, and Speaker Om Birla announced the successful passage of the bill.

This landmark legislation, known as the ‘Nari Shakti Vandan Adhiniyam,’ marks the first Bill passed by the Lok Sabha after it relocated to the new Parliament building on Tuesday.

‘Why can’t the bill be implemented in 2024’: NCP Rajya Sabha MP questions BJP on Women’s Reservation Bill

‘Didn’t you do demonetisation overnight? Didn’t you declare a lockdown with almost immediate effect? Didn’t you abrogate article 370 without any notice? You are indeed a very capable government. Then why are you taking so long? Why can’t the bill be implemented 2024?,’ NCP’s Vandana Chavan said on the Women’s Reservation bill in Rajya Sabha. 

‘A bill with conditions’: Congress MP in Rajya Sabha on Women’s Reservation Bill

‘You have brought a bill with conditions. You do not want women to get empowerment, you don’t want women to sit at the table. Delimitation and census — what have you been doing for the past nine years? You have only been doing lip service,’ said Dr Amee Yajnik from the Congress, in the Rajya Sabha. 

‘No political gains, aiming for empowerment,’ says Nadda on women’s quota bill

Speaking about women’s reservation in legislation, BJP President and Rajya Sabha MP JP Nadda emphasised, ‘I want to clarify that the Bharatiya Janata Party is not pursuing political gain but rather aims to empower women.’

The discussion on the Women’s Reservation Bill, 2023, commenced during the special five-day Parliament session on Thursday.

Despite being a crucial step towards gender parity and inclusive governance, the bill has remained in legislative limbo for far too long.

This marks the seventh attempt, dating back to 1996, to pass it.

The five-day special session of Parliament was called by the government last month taking the opposition by surprise. The Special Session of Parliament will end on Friday.