Opp backs Bill, but says: Implement it immediately, why not include OBC

Congress’ K C venugopal said: “Who stopped you from 2014 to 2023? I wish to ask the PM if he was waiting for this new building to introduce the Bill. Was there any ‘Vaastu’ issue in the old building? Or is there a good ‘mahurat’ now? You first lost nine-and-half years and now you are saying it will be implemented in 2029. You have a political calculation behind this Bill. It has come after Karnataka elections which has strengthened the Congress party. We have empowered women in Karnataka.”

He said the Congress was supporting the Bill but wanted reservation for OBCs and its immediate implementation.

“Nadda ji spoke about OBC reservation. Then why are you running away from the caste census? If you love OBCs, do it. Out of our four CMs, three are from the OBC community,” he said.

TMC’s O’Brien said Mamata Bannerjee has been demanding immediate reservation for women since 1998.

“And when Bills didn’t get passed, she gave 41% of tickets to women candidates in her party. Today 39% of TMC MPs are women. It is one thing to give tickets and another to give them winnable seats. The BJP president said this is the shortest way of bringing women to Parliament. No, you don’t need a Bill. Bring them to Parliament,” he said.

Manoj Jha of the RJD said, “The SC/ST/OBC women are the most vulnerable in society – they experience no hand-holding and have little access to electoral politics. They need to be considered within the reservation. My request therefore is that the Bill be sent to a select committee that can consider whether SC/ST/OBC reservation can be included.”

Former law minister in the Congress government and now an independent MP, Kapil Sibal, raised the issue of delayed census and delimitation and the way they will impact southern states.

“The census will happen in 2026. The reason it was frozen in 2002 was because the health ministry gave an opinion that by 2026 the population will not be growing anymore. The population in the north has increased disproportionately as compared to the south and thus there is going to be an issue with dealing with delimitation. So, I want the PM and the HM to come to the House and say that if they do not complete the process of delimitation by 2029, they will resign,” he added.

Priyanka Chaturvedi of the Shiv Sena’s Uddhav Thackeray faction said, “Nadda ji says this is the only way to ensure representation. It is not. Bring the 2010 Bill as it would have implemented reservation from the very next polls. The 73rd and 75th amendments were not for future dates, but immediately implementable. There is no law in the world that gets implemented seven years later. What is stopping you from immediate implementation?”

Jayant Chaudhary of the RLD said, “Even if we follow your process, this Bill is not getting implemented before 2034. So why a special session? Do we need a counting of people for giving reservation to women? Delimitation is not required. Your policy is right, but your intentions are wrong. This is ‘achhe din’ part two.”

CPI(M)’s Elamaram Kareem from Kerala said that the recent electoral losses that the BJP has suffered, has compelled it to bring the women’s reservation Bill in Parliament.

Sandeep Kumar Pathak of the AAP called the Bill the “next jumla’’ of the BJP government.

Keshav Rao of BRS raised concerns over the conditions of census and delimitation within the Bill.