'How to amend a law that was not in force'; Opposition toughens stand on Women's Reservation Bill

NEW DELHI: The discussion on the Women's Reservation Bill is progressing in the Lok Sabha. The opposition is strongly opposing the bill. The opposition is demanding that women’s reservation be implemented by redrawing the boundaries of the existing 543 constituencies.

The opposition MPs have clarified that the Center's proposal is unconstitutional and that constituency delimitation can be done as per the present law without increasing the number of seats. The opposition also questioned the notification of the Women's Reservation Act, passed in 2023, last night. This was raised by K C Venugopal MP when the Lok Sabha began.

Following this, Kanimozhi also stepped forward with strong criticism. Kanimozhi asked how to amend a law that was not in force. She alleged that notifying the law while the discussion was going on in the House was disrespectful to the House. Kanimozhi also said that this is a move to eliminate the political influence of southern Indian states like Kerala and Tamil Nadu, which have successfully implemented population control. DMK members arrived in the house wearing black as a sign of protest.

The vote on the bill will be held at 4 pm today. Since it is a constitutional amendment bill, it needs the support of two-thirds of the members present in the House to pass it. It will be difficult to pass it if the opposition members stand together. However, if some parties from the opposition, which has a larger number of MPs, abstain from it, it will be passed. There are indications that the ruling party is making efforts to do so. The bills were introduced to implement 33% reservation for women in the Lok Sabha and state legislative assemblies, to carry out constituency delimitation, and to increase the number of seats in union territories.