Haridwar (Uttarakhand) [India], April 19 : In the wake of the Constitution (131st Amendment) Bill failing to pass in the Lok Sabha, Yoga Guru Ramdev on Sunday deemed it an insult to "Nari Shakti", further stating that 33 per cent reservation should have been 50 per cent.
Speaking to reporters, Ramdev said, "The failure of the 33 per cent reservation bill is an insult to 'Nari Shakti'. I believe this bill should have provided 50 per cent reservation, not 33 per cent. But it was very unfortunate that even 33 per cent could not be passed."
Despite receiving 298 "Ayes" to 230 "Noes" on Friday, the bill failed to secure the mandatory two-thirds majority required for a Constitutional Amendment.
Earlier, the Lok Sabha took up the Constitution (One Hundred and Thirty-first Amendment) Bill, the Delimitation Bill, and the Union Territories Laws (Amendment) Bill together for passing. In the division that took place on the Constitution Amendment Bill following the debate on the three bills, 298 members voted in favour and 230 against.
PM Modi pointed out that the defeat of this bill is a direct blow to the self-respect of women, an insult that the female electorate will permanently engrave in their memories. "Women may forget everything else, but they never forget an insult to their pride," PM Modi said in his address to the nation on Saturday.
The Bill's failure has reignited a fierce ideological battle over the implementation of women's reservations and the legislative path toward gender parity in Indian politics.
With the Bill failing to secure the necessary two-thirds majority in Lok Sabha, the ruling government leaders have accused the INDIA bloc of being "anti-women" while the opposition has maintained that they suport the women's quota but opposes linking it with delimitation and census processes, claiming that the Union Government brought forth the Amendment Bill as a political ploy to "rejig" the electoral map under the guise of women reservation.
With the Bill stalled, the government is expected to take this narrative to the grassroots level, turning the legislative defeat into a major campaign talking point in the Tamil Nadu and Bengal assembly polls.
Meanwhile, the Opposition continues to argue that the Bill's current formlinked to the census and delimitationis a tactical delay by the government, rather than a genuine attempt at immediate empowerment.
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