A major defeat was suffered by the Indian government on Friday. The defeat was when a key constitutional amendment bill which was aimed at reserving one-third seats for women in state assemblies and Parliament failed to secure the required majority.
The bill sought to advance women’s quotas. The quota was linked to a fresh delimitation of constituencies. The bill fell short of two-thirds support needed in Lok Sabha.
Constitution manipulation claims by Opposition
The government was criticised by the opposition for tying women’s reservation to a major redrawing of constituency boundaries based on the new population data.
It was argued by the opposition that this bill was an attempt to reshape electoral maps in favour of the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).
Rahul Gandhi, Congress Leader stated that the bill had fallen, He further accused the government of using an unconstitutional trick in the name of women.
He posted on X shortly after the vote, “They used an unconstitutional trick in the name of women to break the Constitution.”
Government vows to fight
Amit Shah, Home Minister rejected the accusations by the opposition. He stated that the Indian women will not forgive those who blocked the bill.
He said to the parliament before the vote, “The women of this country will not forgive you.”
The argument presented by the government is that updating the constituency boundaries was necessary to reflect population changes since the 1971 census.
A reservation law for women was passed in 2023, its rollout was dependent upon a new census and delimitation exercise.
It is interesting to note that such internal wrangling in Indian politics frequently exposes the gap between reality and rhetoric on issues of democratic representation and gender.
The government now plans to campaign for the quota in the coming months.
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