‘Hypocritical’: Priyanka Chaturvedi slams Amit Shah over his Lok Sabha speech on women's reservation bill
While the opposition parties have supported the bill, they have been questioning the government over the timing of the implementation of the legislation.
Shiv Sena (UBT) MP Priyanka Chaturvedi on Wednesday called union minister Amit Shah “hypocritical” over his speech on the women's reservation bill in the Lok Sabha. Alleging that the Centre is “trying to lure” women of the country with the bill, the Shiv Sena MP said that “women will realise and the government will pay a price”.
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“His (HM Amit Shah) statement is hypocritical because a commitment made to the women of the country nine and a half years ago in the 2014 manifesto and coming and merging as a single largest party with all parties asking you to introduce the bill, has taken nine and a half years,” Chaturvedi told news agency ANI.
She added, “His statement is hypocritical because of this one clause that this is subject to delimitation and census... 2021 census is already delayed. We are in 2023 and no census is likely to happen. We are assuming that in 2029, the delimitation will happen... it may move forward because, in 2031, a new census will be expected.”
Earlier, Amit Shah addressed the Lok Sabha on the women's reservation bill which was passed by the lower house of the Parliament. The legislation - known as the ‘Nari Shakti Vandan Adhiniyam’ - seeks to provide a 33 percent quota for women in Lok Sabha and state assemblies.
While the opposition has supported the bill, it has been questioning the government over the timing of the implementation of the legislation. Prime Minister Narendra Modi earlier said that the bill would be implemented after conducting the Census and delimitation exercise.
Also read: Big step but why do you need new census: Rahul Gandhi on women's quota bill
To this, Amit Shah in Lok Sabha said, “We will conduct the census and delimitation exercise soon after the elections. After this, there will be one-third of women in this House.”
Amit Shah's dig at Opposition
Taking a dig at the opposition, Amit Shah said, "For some parties, women empowerment can be a political agenda and a political tool to win elections, but for BJP and Prime Minister Narendra Modi it is not a political issue.”
Notably, the bill has been in talks since the then UPA government and was also tabled in the Rajya Sabha in 2010.
“Women's quota bill was brought to Parliament four times earlier but not passed, why is that?” Shah questioned.