BJD Issues 3-Line Whip To Its MPs As Women’s Reservation Bill Faces Rajya Sabha Test Today

New Delhi: With ‘Nari Shakti Vandan Adhiniyam’ (NSVA) set for another litmus test in the Rajya Sabha on Day 4 of the special session of Parliament, the BJD on Thursday issued a three-line whip to its members to remain present in the Upper House and support passage of the bill, granting 33% reservation for women in Lok Sabha and state legislative assemblies.

“Our leader CM Naveen Patnaik and BJD has always had the commitment that the Women’s Reservation Bill be passed in the Parliament…BJD has been making this effort for several years. It is a historic day. It will be passed in the Rajya Sabha and as per the instruction by our leader Naveen Patnaik, a three-line whip has been issued for MPs of BJD. All our MPs will be present in the Rajya Sabha and all of them will vote in favour of the passage of the Bill..,” Rajya Sabha member from BJD Sasmit Patra told ANI.

A three-line whip is a strict instruction to attend and vote according to the party’s position, breach of which would normally have serious consequences.

After daylong discussion on the 128th Constitutional Amendment Bill, as it is formally known, NSVA was passed in the Lok Sabha on Wednesday with 454 votes in favour and two against it amid demand for a sub-quota for Other Backward Classes (OBCs) and implementation of the legislation without long delays.

“Yesterday was a golden moment of India’s Parliamentary journey. All the members of this House deserve that golden moment…Yesterday’s decision and today when we cross the last mile after Rajya Sabha (passing of the Bill today), the transformation in the face of women power of the country, the trust that will be formed will emerge as an unimaginable and unprecedented power that will take the country to new heights. I can feel this,” Prime Minister Narendra Modi said in his address in the Lok Sabha and thanked MPs across party lines for voting in favour of the Women’s Reservation Bill.

While Law Minister Arjun Ram Meghwal has moved the Bill, Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman and BJP President JP Nadda are likely to speak in its favour in Rajya Sabha, reports said.

Notably, the BJD has long been pushing for the Bill and made a strong pitch for its passage in both Houses. Senior BJD MP Bhartruhari Mahtab said Odisha is a model state for women’s quota as former CM Biju Patnaik had first introduced 1/3rd reservation for women in panchayat and urban local body elections in 1991. Thereafter, the 73rd and 74th constitutional amendments were brought to ensure reservation for women in local body elections in all states.

Senior state minister Pramila Mallik had earlier told the media that the credit for the introduction of the Bill in Lok Sabha must go to Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik. “The legendary Biju Patnaik gave opportunities to women in politics when he was the CM, and his son Naveen has accelerated the process,” she said.

On March 10, 2019, hours before the announcement of the schedule for the last general election, Naveen declared at a rally in Kendrapada that his party would give 33% of its tickets for the parliamentary elections to women. Five among the seven women candidate fielded by BJD won the elections.