Congress never serious about women’s reservation, only shows ‘tokenism’: Amit Shah

PTI, Sep 19, 2023, 8:02 PM IST

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Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Tuesday slammed the opposition, particularly the Congress, for showing only ”tokenism” on the Narshakti Vandan Adhiniyam and said the party has never been serious about women’s reservation in legislative bodies.

He also said the Congress either let legislations lapse or their friendly parties prevented the women reservation bill from being tabled.

The home minister said across the length and breadth of India, people are rejoicing the introduction of the Narishakti Vandan Adhiniyam in Parliament and it shows the unwavering commitment of the Modi government to empower women.

”Sadly, the Opposition is unable to digest this. And, what is more shameful is that except tokenism, the Congress has never been serious about women’s reservation. Either they let legislations lapse or their friendly parties prevented the Bill from being tabled. Their double standards will never be hidden, whatever stunts they try to take credit,” he wrote on X.

The government on Tuesday introduced a constitutional amendment bill to reserve one-third of seats in Lok Sabha and state assemblies for women, reviving a bill pending for 27 years for want of consensus among parties.

Making it the first bill to be introduced in the new Parliament building, the government said it will enable greater participation of women in policy-making at the state and national levels and help achieve the goal of making India a developed country by 2047.