Congress MP Priyanka Gandhi Vadra has issued a public challenge to the government, urging them to bring back the old women's bill that was passed unanimously in 2023. She said that if the government wants to do something concrete, they should bring back the bill and let's see who is anti-women.
Priyanka Gandhi accused the BJP-led NDA of trying to mislead the voters of West Bengal and Tamil Nadu by terming the Opposition parties 'anti-women'. She said that the Opposition's stand is not against women's reservation but against linking it to delimitation and census.
The 'old bill' that Priyanka Gandhi was referring to is the Nari Shakti Vandan Adhiniyam or the Constitution (106th Amendment) Act of 2023, which already provides for 33% reservation for women in the Lok Sabha and state assemblies. However, the BJP-led government inserted a condition requiring a fresh census and delimitation before it comes into force.
The Congress-led INDIA bloc of non-NDA parties has announced that they will write formally to Prime Minister Narendra Modi demanding the implementation of the original 2023 law, without the delimitation. Tamil Nadu's ruling party DMK has even sought to introduce a fresh bill to this effect, calling for immediate quota within the current Lok Sabha strength of 543.
