Sonia Gandhi, chairwoman of the Congress Parliamentary Party and widow of former Indian prime minister, Rajiv Gandhi, will lead her party's discussion over the Women's Reservation Bill in the Lok Sabha on Wednesday.
During the five-day special session of Parliament, the Bill was introduced in the lower house of parliament on Tuesday. It aims to allocate a 33 percent quota to women in the Parliament and state legislative assemblies.
'Nari Shakti Vandan Adhiniyam' (the Women Reservation Bill) was introduced by Federal Law Minister Arjun Ram Meghwal during the inaugural sitting of Lok Sabha in the new Parliament building. The special session of Parliament started on Monday.
The Bill is set to be discussed by different political parties on Wednesday, the third day of the special session.
In 2008, the then-ruling Congress-led United Progressive Alliance (UPA) government introduced the Bill in the upper house (Rajya Sabha). It was eventually approved in the upper house but was never brought up in the lower house.
Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi has mentioned the Bill’s potential to strengthen Indian demonocracy, urging the members of both houses to pass it unanimously. He added: "I congratulate mothers, sisters and daughters of the nation for Narishakti Vandan Adhiniyam".
Federal Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman, Women and Child Development Minister Smriti Irani, Minister of State for Health and Family Welfare Bharati Pawar, and Lok Sabha members Aparajita Sarangi, Sunita Duggal and Diya Kumari will represent the federally ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in the Lok Sabha debate.
The Opposition, however, has referred to the Women Reservation Bill as an election pledge ahead of the 2024 General Election. The Women's Reservation Bill, according to Congress, won't take effect until after a census and delimitation.
Meanwhile, the Constitution (128th Amendment) Bill, 2023, which seeks to amend the Constitution to achieve reservation in government jobs for Scheduled Castes (SCs) and Scheduled Tribes (STs), is also likely to be introduced in Lok Sabha today by Union Law Minister Arjun Ram Meghwal. To bring the Advocates Act of 1961 up to date, Meghwal will also introduce the Advocates (Amendment) Bill, 2023.