Kiren Rijiju says defeat of the Constitutional amendment bill to expand seats and fast-track women’s reservation is a loss for women
The Constitutional amendment bill to increase the overall number of seats in the Lok Sabha not being passed in Parliament should not be seen as a failure of the Union government, but as a loss for women who have been denied participation in decision-making, Union parliamentary affairs minister Kiren Rijiju said on Saturday.
The minister went on to say that Prime Minister Narendra Modi, while chairing the Union Cabinet meeting, also pointed out that the Opposition, particularly the Congress, will have to face the consequences of denying women their rights.gfx
Govt bill to expand seats in LS fails
A day after the central government’s bid to push a Constitution amendment bill to expand the size of the Lok Sabha and fast-track 33% reservation for women failed, the minister doubled down on blaming the Opposition.
“The bills not getting passed is not a failure of our government, or our party. We are sad because it is a loss for women who have been denied participation in decision-making. But the opposition will have to face the consequences as well,” he said.
The minister said the Congress in particular will have to face women who are aggrieved and angry by the development. “They are celebrating women’s defeat, which is proof of their anti-women mindset,” he told media persons.
Congress hits back
The Congress, for its part, has accused the government of conspiring to alter the federal structure of the country by introducing the delimitation bill. The government, however, asserted that its proposal to increase the seats by 50% would have ensured that the proportional representation of the states remained intact.
Rijiju slammed the Congress for suggesting that the government declined to discuss the issue with its opponents and said he reached out to leaders of all the major parties to seek their support for the proposed bills.
“I spoke to the Congress several times. They wrote letters (Kharge had urged the government to hold an all party meeting) but did not attend any meeting. They refuse to come and then claim there was no discussion…” he said.
The minister also explained that he chose to meet the leaders individually as he wanted to address their concerns.
“How we should approach different parties will be decided by us. How can they dictate that we should follow a certain path of consultation? We met individually so we could discuss in detail the nitty gritty…We wanted to negotiate and the meetings (with other parties) were fruitful,” he said.
He said the Congress had been dialling other parties to not attend the meetings called by the government to discuss the issue.
