Union Home Minister Amit Shah accused West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee of shielding infiltrators, promoting dynastic politics, and supporting the construction of a mosque resembling the Babri Masjid.
Minister of State Prahlad Singh Patel on Monday posted on social media platform X that the Union Cabinet has approved the women's reservation bill, but deleted the post within an hour.
The woman who confronted BJP workers during a protest in Mumbai's Worli area last month has criticised all political parties for disregarding the general public.
Congress leader Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury on Tuesday sought to give credit to his party for the women's reservation bill but Home Minister Amit Shah refuted his claim, saying that the legislation brought by the Manmohan Singh government had lapsed following the dissolution of the 15th Lok Sabha.
The women's Reservation Bill is likely to be introduced in the Lok Sabha on Tuesday during the ongoing special session of the Parliament and in Rajya Sabha on September 21, government sources said.
Even if there is an early agreement on a cessation of hostilities in West Asia, the price shock will not go away easily, points out A K Bhattacharya.
Maharashtra's Governor and Chief Minister, along with other state leaders, paid tribute to Dr. B.R. Ambedkar on his 135th birth anniversary, recognising his profound impact on social justice, equality, and the Indian Constitution.
The Congress on Wednesday hit out at the government over the women's reservation bill, saying the only appropriate description of what Prime Minister Narendra Modi has done with the matter is "it is a post-dated cheque drawn on a failing bank".
The passage of the women's reservation bill has ignited hope among stakeholders about attaining gender equality in India's political landscape, especially at the policy-making level, even as some raised concerns over its effectiveness given the uncertainty in the deadline for its implementation.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday said his government is committed to ensuring that the 'Nari Shakti Vandan Adhiniyam' aimed at expanding women's participation in the Lok Sabha and state assemblies becomes a law, as he urged MPs of both Houses of Parliament to pass the bill unanimously.
Initiating the debate on the bill from the opposition's side, Congress leader Sonia Gandhi said that any delay in bringing the reservation into effect would be "gross injustice" to Indian women.
Opposition parties Nationalist Congress Party and Samajwadi Party on Wednesday demanded reservation for OBCs in the women's reservation bill and questioned the reason for calling a special session when the bill cannot be implemented before census and delimitation.
There are no major legal complications in implementing the bill right now but the Narendra Modi government putting it off for 10 years, he said.
In the three decades since reservation of seats for women in panchayati raj institutions was introduced, the country saw women dismantling gender barriers to take the lead in the political field at the grassroots level and excel in it.
Participating in a debate on the bill in Lok Sabha, Moitra said women's reservation is dependent on two totally "indeterminate dates" and asked, "can there be a greater jumla".
Congress MP Rahul Gandhi on Friday expressed his regret that the Other Backward Class (OBC) quota was not provided under the Bill brought by United Progressive Alliance (UPA) in 2010.
While the major fronts, the CPI-M led LDF and Congress-led UDF have given three and one seat respectively to women, the BJP-led NDA has set aside five seats for their female politicians in the upcoming LS polls.
Initiating the debate from the opposition's side in the Lok Sabha, Gandhi said, "I stand here in support of Nari Shakti Vandan Adhiniyam."
The government on Tuesday introduced a constitutional amendment bill reserving 33 per cent seats for women in the Lok Sabha and state assemblies, reviving a proposal pending for years and blending history, politics and societal imperatives on the first day in the new Parliament building.
After a spirited eight-hour debate in which 60 members participated, the Lok Sabha passed the Constitution (128th Amendment) Bill, with 454 members voting in favour and two against it.
Samajwadi Party supremo Mulayam Singh Yadav kicked up a row with his remark that rural women will not benefit from the Women Reservation Bill because they are not as attractive as those from the affluent class.
Union Home Minister P Chidambaram on Tuesday expressed confidence that the long-awaited Women's Reservation Bill would be passed by parliament this year.
The women's reservation bill is back in focus ahead of Parliament's winter session, with several opposition parties, including the Janata Dal-United, which had once opposed the move, demanding that it be introduced and passed in this session.
PM to meet SP, RJD and JD(U) as Congress managers fear for passage of Finance Bill.
"We support the Women's Reservation Bill and we are working to build a consensus among all political parties for the purpose," Home Minister Shivraj Patil said in New Delhi.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi's move to get reservation for women in legislatures promises to shape the political discourse ahead of key state polls and Lok Sabha elections, and a parliamentary approval to the long-contested proposal will be used by the Bharatiya Janata Party to burnish his credentials as a decisive leader.
Congress Parliamentary Party chairperson Sonia Gandhi has criticized the Waqf (Amendment) Bill, calling it a 'brazen assault' on the Constitution and part of the BJP's strategy to keep society in a 'permanent state of polarization.' She also spoke out against the One Nation, One Election Bill, calling it a 'subversion of the Constitution.' Gandhi further accused the Modi government of ignoring the women's reservation bill and other demands for reservation, and of 'dragging the country into an abyss' where the Constitution will only exist on paper. She also criticized the government for limiting the speaking time of the Leader of the Opposition in Parliament and for not allowing discussions on important issues like the working of the defense and external affairs ministries and the challenges posed by China on the border.
Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and United Progressive Alliance chairperson Sonia Gandhi on Monday held a meeting at 6.30 pm at the PM's residence in the capital. The Congress leaders discussed the next course of action over the Women Reservation's Bill, which will be debated in the Parliament on Tuesday.
Asserting that it was determined to ensure the passage of the Women's Reservation Bill in Parliament, the Bharatiya Janata Party has sought to make political capital on the issue by stating that since the United Progressive Alliance coalition was in minority in the Rajya Sabha, the onus of getting it adopted was with the main opposition. BJP president Nitin Gadkari on Saturday convened an emergency meeting of the party core group to discuss the Women's Reservation Bill.
In the first phase of the Lok Sabha polls, there were 135 women candidates while in the second phase, there were 100 women candidates, bringing the combined total for the first two phases to 235 women candidates.
The much-awaited women's reservation bill will be brought to the Lok Sabha soon, the government said on Saturday.
The Bharatiya Janata Party on Tuesday expressed its keenness in getting the Women's Reservation Bill passed in Lok Sabha after a consensus is evolved on the issue and not by use of marshals as was done in the Rajya Sabha last year.
Giving a new twist to his campaign against the Women's Reservation Bill, Samajwadi Party chief Mulayam Singh Yadav on Friday said the SP wanted only 20 per cent quota and that too not for seats but for political parties to give tickets for the fair sex.
Raising a new demand on the women's bill, the Samajwadi Party on Monday sought a 50 per cent quota for women in educational institutes as well as government jobs. The demand was made by Mulayam Singh Yadav, who has already called for "reservation within reservation" for Muslim women and backward classes in the Women's Reservation Bill.
Voting in the Rajya Sabha on the Women's Reservation Bill was deferred by a day on Monday.
Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar on Wednesday admitted that sharp differences prevailed in the Janata Dal - United over the Women's Reservation Bill, but ruled out reports of a crisis brewing within the party."I admit there have been honest differences of opinion in the party over the support to the women's reservation bill in the Lok Sabha, but it should not be taken as a crisis or split facing the party," said Kumar.
In a bid to divide the Opposition as well as push through its agenda in a deadlocked parliament, the government may consider introducing the Women's Reservation Bill in the Lok Sabha before the winter session ends on December 13.
The 14-year-old journey of the Women's Reservation Bill was marked by high drama and roadblocks in each of its outings in Parliament, before the historic measure finally cleared its first legislative hurdle on Tuesday. The battle for greater representation to women in Lok Sabha and state assemblies was routinely punctuated by frayed tempers and war of words, which sometimes got physical, as different governments since 1996 tried to get the bill passed.
The state government, however, maintained it has no intimation so far from the central government or the governor's office regarding their "observations" on certain provisions in the Bill.
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