A day after Parliament passed the Women's Reservation Bill, Congress leader Rahul Gandhi held a press conference on the legislation on Friday. Addressing the media, he supported the bill but also raised questions on its implementation.
"Women's reservation is a good thing, but we found two footnotes - one is that the Census will have to be done before implementation and the second is delimitation. It will take several years to get this done. The truth is that 33 per cent reservation can be given to women in Parliament and state Assemblies today itself, it's not a complicated matter," Gandhi added.
Speaking further, the Wayanad MP said that the government has presented this before the country but it will take 10 years for its implementation. "Nobody knows if this will even be implemented. This is a distraction tactic, diversion tactic," he alleged.
'Govt trying to divert from OBC Census'
The senior Congress leader also alleged that the central government is trying to divert from the OBC Census through this bill. He claimed that Prime Minister Narendra Modi-led BJP government has not done anything for the welfare of the OBC community. "What is it that you are being diverted from? From OBC Census. I spoke of one institution in Parliament, that which runs the Government of India - Cabinet secretary and secretaries...I asked why only three out of 90 people belong to the OBC community?...I don't understand why PM Modi speaks of OBCs every day but what did he do for them?" Gandhi asked.
On being asked, if he regrets that the OBC quota was not provided under the bill brought by UPA in 2010, Gandhi said, "100% regret hai. This should have been done then. We will get this done."
Parliament passes Women's Reservation Bill
It should be mentioned here that the Parliament passed the historic Women's Reservation Bill on Thursday. The bill, to reserve one-third of seats in the Lok Sabha and state assemblies for women, received the Parliamentary nod after the Rajya Sabha voted unanimously in favour of it. Unlike the Lok Sabha, where two of the 456 MPs present in the House had voted against the bill, all the 214 lawmakers in the Rajya Sabha voted in its favour on Thursday, September 21.
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