Opposition claims timing of amending women’s quota bill is aimed at gaining political mileage, government rejects accusations

The issue sparked a war of words between Treasury and opposition MPs shortly after question time on Thursday. Congress MP Jairam Ramesh said: “When Nari Shakti Vandan Adhiniyam was passed in the House on September 23, 2023, members of the BJP and opposition urged the government to implement the bill from the 2024 Lok Sabha elections. The government at the time said we can’t do it; we have to do a census; we have to do delimitations.…They were sleeping for 30 months and suddenly they discovered that we don’t need a census; we don’t need delimitation because we have challenges in West Bengal, Tamil Nadu. It’s all politics…”Earlier, LoP Mallikarjun Kharge said that they all support reservation of women’s rights but the government should not “play games on when and how to bring the bill”, Rijiju replied and said the government has an obligation to fulfill its commitments to women in the country. “What is important is that we have a corollary responsibility, which is the commitment that the Indian Parliament has made to women in this country. This has nothing to do with specific state elections. We have to move forward because we have certain limitations in terms of time scales…let us not get involved in politics on this important issue,” the minister said.