"Puri yojana bana rakhi hae ...
"You have all come fully planned. Today, if Chanakya had been alive, he also would have been shocked by your moves," Congress leader Priyanka Gandhi Vadra told Home Minister Amit Shah in Lok Sabha,
The remark drew massive laughter from Shah himseld and Parliamentary Affairs Minister, Kiren Rijiju among others.
The Wayanad MP from Kerala said that while Congress supports reservations for women MPs, the debate is not on that but on the fact that the bill smells of politics.
Referencing the PM's address again, Priyanka Gandhi said that the BJP should tread cautiously because women are good at sensing those who lie.
The women's quota move was actually the NDA-ruled Centre's Trump card to retain electoral advantage.
Referring to Prime Minister Narendra Modi's earlier address, wherein he spoke about how the BJP has been a champion of women's rights, she said that by damaging the Constitution of India, the BJP is strengthening the foundation of their party. "Prime Minister's remarks today suggested that the BJP have been the champions, proponents, and biggest supporters of women's reservation.
This was the theme throughout his speech, even while claiming he didn't want any credit for it...A few years after reading Rahul Gandhi's letter in 2023, finally, when the government of respected Prime Minister Narendra Modi unanimously passed this Act in 2023, the Indian National Congress fully supported it, in keeping with its ideology," she added, while stressing that Congress will always support women's reservation.
The Wayanad MP also asked why 33 per cent reservations cannot be given within the 543 seats of Lok Sabha currently. "If this Constitution amendment bill is passed, democracy will be finished in this country," she said.
Modi turns debate on women's quota into a dare for opposition
"Hamari neeyat ki khot, desh ki naari shakti kabhi maaf nahi karegi
(The women of the nation will never forgive any dishonesty in our intentions). Today, the entire country, especially the women's power, will definitely look at our decisions, but more than the decisions, they will look at our intentions," PM Modi said.
He further underlined that the MPs should not be under the "illusion" or "pride" that "we are giving anything to the women of this country". In the same breath, he reinforced it, "Not at all, this is their right." -- "Yeh Haq hae".
The Prime Minister stressed that the legislation was already 30 years too late. It followed a stark reminder to the opposition, who have objected to linking the bill to the delimitation exercise.
"Those who opposed giving this right to women have not been forgiven by the women of this country. They have faced the consequences," the Prime Minister said.
PM MODI INVOKES HISTORY
History shows that PM Modi has not been completely off the mark. Previously, there were four attempts to give 33% reservation to women in Parliament.
Such a bill was first introduced by the HD Deve Gowda government in 1996. The bill was referred to a committee, but it lapsed after the Gowda government lost a majority as Congress withdrew support. It was revived by the Atal Bihari Vajpayee-led BJP government in 1998 and 1999.
On both occasions, the bill failed to proceed. Vajpayee lost the 2004 polls.
The Manmohan Singh government managed to pass the bill in the Rajya Sabha, but could not bring it to the Lok Sabha. The bill lapsed again in 2014 after the UPA made way for the BJP.
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