New Delhi, April 16 Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) MP Bansuri Swaraj said on Thursday that the proposed Delimitation Bill is the actually the path towards achieving the goal of women's reservation in the country.
Speaking in the Lok Sabha during a marathon debate on women's reservation and delimitation, Swaraj said, "In the 2024 elections, there were more women voters as compared to men."
"I want to ask those Opposition leaders who are not supporting this Bill, do you want to limit women's role as voters only?" she added.
The BJP leader said, "What surprises me is the fact that the Opposition had allowed the passage of the Nari Shakti Vandan Adhiniyam in 2023, then why are they not supporting its implementation by 2029?"
Reacting on Lok Sabha Leader of Opposition Rahul Gandhi's video message on X regarding the Women's Reservation Bill, Swaraj said, "This Bill has been brought to fulfill the promises."
On LoP Gandhi calling the Bill, a "power grabbing move", she said, "This is not the issue of power grab but rather a matter of power balance."
Swaraj noted, "It is the responsibility of the House to rise above political interests and ideological differences and pass this Bill unanimously."
On Samajwadi Party Chief Akhilesh Yadav's allegation that the Bill is being rushed by Union government to sidestep caste count, Swaraj said, "Even after the delay of 40 hours, how are they alleging that the Bill is being rushed?"
The BJP MP also mentioned that elections cannot be a "pretext to snatch the rights of women", adding: "The delimitation has been made a factor of fear and illusion. I want to clarify that delimitation is not a conspiracy of the BJP, rather it is the constitutional mechanism."
Calling women's reservation as the final destination, the BJP MP said, "Implementation of Nari Shakti Vandan Adhiniyam is the destination, delimitation is only the path towards it. One should not confuse between a path and a goal. It is high time that we complete the journey towards that destination."
Swaraj highlighted that reservation cannot be implemented in the abstract.
"It will have to be implemented in identified constituencies," she said.
She stressed that for effective implementation of the Nari Shakti Vandan Adhiniyam, "delimitation and increase in the number of (Lok Sabha) seats is essential."
She also emphasised that the share of any state will not be reduced while increasing the number of Lok Sabha seats.
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