What Hema Malini said on women's reservation bill: ‘No other PM…’

Hema Malini said it was the Opposition's job to oppose the bill and the ruling party did not bother about it.

Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) MP Hema Malini praised Prime Minister Narendra Modi for bringing the women's reservation bill in Parliament and attacked the Opposition for opposing the bill by saying that it was their “job to do it”.

BJP MP Hema Malini speaks in the Lok Sabha during the Special Session of Parliament, in New Delhi on Thursday. (ANI Photo)

Speaking to news agency ANI, Malini said, “Whatever Prime Minister Modi has done, he has done with good intentions. No other Prime Minister has done such things. So when he is doing something, the Opposition keeps on saying something or the other.”

Hema Malini said that it was the Opposition's job to oppose the bill and the ruling party did not bother about it.

“It's their job to do it, we don't bother about it. Just in a few years, see what all is going to happen.”

Lok Sabha passed the women's reservation bill on Wednesday, which will reserve a third of seats for women in national and state legislatures with an overwhelming majority, marking the first time such legislation has cleared the Lower House since a similar bill was first introduced nearly three decades ago.

Hema Malini added that all of country's women would participate in the development.

“All women are going to participate in the country's development. All are going to be a part of it. It is a great thing that this is happening.”

With 454 members in support and only two against, the Women’s Reservation Bill easily crossed the benchmark of two-thirds support required for constitutional amendments. The Nari Shakti Vandan Adhiniyam or the 128th Constitution (Amendment) Bill is being discussed in the Rajya Sabha.

During the nine-hour debate, the Opposition, led by Congress parliamentary party chief Sonia Gandhi, demanded quota for women from backward groups and alleged that the timeline for the implementation of the bill was too long, but almost all of them ended up backing the legislation. Only All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen (AIMIM) members Asaduddin Owaisi and Imtiaz Jaleel voted against the bill.