New Delhi: Prime Minister Narendra Modi will address the nation at 8.30 pm today. While the PMO has not said what he will be speaking about, it seems that he will clarify the government’s stand on the women’s reservation bill.
The Constitution (131st Amendment) Bill – clubbing women’s reservation and delimitation – failed to secure the requisite two-thirds majority in the Lok Sabha on Friday.
While seeking to implement 33% reservation for women in Parliament and state assemblies, the Bill also proposed the increase in the Lok Sabha’s strength from 543 to 850 through delimitation based on the 2011 Census.
While 298 MPs voted in favour of the Bill, 230 opposed it. At least 350 votes in favour were required for it to pass.
During a Cabinet meeting held on Saturday morning, the Prime Minister accused the Opposition of being “guilty” and acting against women by
refusing to support the Women’s Reservation Bill. He termed the Opposition’s stance a mistake and warned it would have to pay a political price in the future, sources told India Today.
Modi emphasised that the message — that the Opposition holds a negative mindset towards women — must be taken to every village across the country, the sources said. Opposition parties are now scrambling to justify their position, he said.
Earlier in the day, while addressing a press conference at the Congress headquarters, Priyanka Gandhi called the development a “big victory for democracy” and a “black day for the BJP,” pointing out that the ruling party at the Centre had suffered its first defeat in Parliament since taking the reins in 2014.
She alleged that the Centre made a concerted effort to push the women’s reservation bill through by linking it with delimitation, adding that “a whole conspiracy was hatched to remain in power.” The government sought to bypass a caste census by proposing delimitation based on the 2011 Census instead of a fresh one, she further alleged.
With crucial elections due in the state of West Bengal, all ears will be on what the Prime Minister has to say about women’s quota and delimitation when he addressed the nation tonight.