Mixed reactions poured in amongst the Opposition parties over the women reservation bill in a rechristened format – Nari Shakti Vandan Adhiniyam - after it was introduced in Parliament on Tuesday. Some of the women leaders welcome the move, Congress too appreciated but with a rider that the Bill was first introduced by the Congress. JD(U) and BJD mentioned that the Bill on women reservation was inspired by their party.
Congress' parliamentary party chief Sonia Gandhi said the women's reservation bill "is ours". "It is ours, apna hai," Sonia said in first recation to the proposed Bill. It was during the UPA government that the bill was passed in the Rajya Sabha on March 9, 2010 but not taken up in the Lok Sabha, stated Congress.
Noting the Centre has stated that the reservation will be effective only after a Census and delimitation exercise is conducted post-enactment of the bill, Congress termed as "election jumla" and "huge betrayal of hopes of women"
Former chief ministers – Mayawati, Rabri Devi, Mehbooba Mufti – all welcomed the announcement and hailed the decision a great one. "Having navigated the rough terrain of a predominantly male political landscape myself, I am happy to see that finally the Women Reservation bill will become a reality.
Despite constituting half of the population, we are grossly underrepresented. It's a great step," PDP chief and former Jammu and Kahsmir CM MEhbooba said.
Former Uttar Pradesh CM Mayawati said her party will support any bill that allows reservation for women in Parliament and other legislatures, even if the party's demand for a quota for the SC, ST and OBC within that quota is not met.
Former Bihar Chief Minister Rabri Devi said the women's reservation bill brought by the Narendra Modi government should have provided separate quotas for those belonging to SCs, STs and OBCs. She also alleged that the bill was "a gimmick, aimed just at making some noise" since the implementation was proposed only after a fresh round of delimitation.
Odisha's ruling BJD said Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik's efforts bore fruit with the Narendra Modi government introducing the women's reservation bill in Lok Sabha. BJD vice-president Debi Prasad Mishra said his party nominated 33 per cent women candidates from the state in the 2019 Lok Sabha elections.
Of the seven women candidates fielded by the party, five won the elections. The BJD government has also reserved 50 per cent of seats for women in the local bodies of the state, he said.
According to Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav, reservation for women should be a balance of gender justice and social justice and demanded clarity on share of backward, Dalit, minority, and tribals in the seats set aside.
While AIMIM leader Asaduddin Owaisi said the government should have also provided for reservation of Muslim and OBC, AAP leader and Delhi minister Atishi questioned the provision of delimitation and census.
"This means that women reservation won't be implemented ahead of the 2024 Lok Sabha polls," she said.
Another Opposition party hailing allegiance to the India bloc, Janat Dal (U) claimed that Women's Reservation Bill brought by the Narendra Modi government was "inspired" by quotas for women brought long ago by Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar.
"Bihar, in 2006, became the first state in the country where women were given 50 per cent reservations in local bodies and Panchayats.
Nitish Kumar took the bold step within months of taking over as Chief Minister in November 2005", a statement to this effect was issued by JD(U) national general secretary and spokesman Rajib Ranjan who asserted "the bill proves that Bihar shows the way".
Rajya Sabha MP Kapil Sibal attacked the government asking why did Prime Minister Narendra Modi wait for almost 10 years for it and saying that probably 2024 general elections is the reason. Sibal, who was a Union minister during the UPA 1 and 2 regimes, quit the Congress in May last year and was elected to the Rajya Sabha as an independent member with the Samajwadi Party's support.