Female workers and leaders of the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) on Monday took out a ‘Jan Aakrosh Mahila Padyatra’ in Patna to protest against the failure of the Constitution (131st Amendment) Bill in the Lok Sabha.
Samrat Choudhary targets the Opposition
Earlier, Bihar Chief Minister Samrat Choudhary accused the Opposition of lacking commitment to women’s empowerment and questioned why political opportunities remain confined to a few families. He said the Bill’s passage would have significantly increased women’s representation, both in Bihar and at the national level.
Bihar’s track record on women’s representation
Highlighting Bihar’s record, Choudhary said the state has already taken significant steps towards women’s empowerment. “There are only 29 female MLAs in the Bihar Legislative Assembly. If this Bill had been passed, there would have been at least 122 MLAs,” he said.
He added that since 2006, when the NDA government introduced 50 per cent reservation for women in Panchayati Raj institutions and municipal bodies, participation has exceeded expectations. “Today, Bihar has 50 per cent reservation, but more than 59 per cent of women are winning elections,” he said, underlining the impact of grassroots reservation policies.
Allegations of selective support
Choudhary accused Opposition leaders of hypocrisy, alleging they support women’s political participation selectively. “They are content if a daughter from their own household becomes an MP, but cannot tolerate a daughter from someone else’s home attaining that status,” he said.
Tejashwi Yadav hits back
Meanwhile, Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) leader and Leader of Opposition in the Bihar Assembly, Tejashwi Yadav, hit out at the Chief Minister over his remarks on the Women’s Reservation Amendment Bill. He alleged that the ruling BJP was attempting to push delimitation under the guise of empowering women.
Speaking to reporters, Yadav said, “Samrat Choudhary has become the Chief Minister, but he hasn’t understood this Bill. Under the guise of women’s empowerment, they wanted to carry out delimitation. He will do whatever the ‘Gujarati leaders’ say. People are coming from the Prime Minister’s Office in Delhi to run the government.”
Bill defeated in Lok Sabha
The remarks came after the defeat of the Constitution (One Hundred and Thirty-First Amendment) Bill in the Lok Sabha, which failed to secure the required two-thirds majority. The Bill received 298 votes in favour and 230 against during a special sitting of Parliament on Friday.
Proposed increase in MPs
The Narendra Modi-led government had stated that the number of MPs would increase from 543 to 816. If passed, 272 of the 816 MPs would have been women, marking a significant structural reform.
Linked bills dropped after defeat
The Lok Sabha had taken up the Constitution (One Hundred and Thirty-First Amendment) Bill, the Delimitation Bill, and the Union Territories Laws (Amendment) Bill together for passage. However, following the defeat of the Constitution Amendment Bill, the government decided not to pursue the other two linked bills.
Key features of the proposed law
The proposed legislation aimed to increase the strength of the Lok Sabha from 543 to 816, with 33 per cent reservation for women. The delimitation exercise was to be carried out based on the 2011 Census, with a proportionate increase in seats for all states.
(With ANI inputs)