Exercise was to create poll issue without implementing it: Congress after passage of women's reservation bill

Jairam Ramesh. Pic/PTI

Hitting out at the BJP a day after the women's reservation bill was passed by Parliament, the Congress on Friday said delimitation and census were "poor excuses" for the postponement of the women's quota and alleged that the entire exercise was to create an election issue, without actually implementing it.

The bill to reserve one-third of the seats in the Lok Sabha and state assemblies for women received the parliamentary nod on Thursday as the Rajya Sabha unanimously voted in its favour.

In a post on X, Congress general secretary Jairam Ramesh said: "The Congress Party moved amendments to the Women's Reservation Bill last night in the Rajya Sabha. These amendments would have ensured: Implementation of the reservation from the 2024 Lok Sabha elections itself."

The amendments would have ensured reservation for women from the Other Backward Classes (OBC), in addition to the reservation for women belonging to Scheduled Castes (SCs) and Scheduled Tribes (STs), Ramesh said.

The two amendments put forward by the Congress were eminently doable but both were rejected, he added.

"The BJP stands exposed on its REAL intentions. Delimitation and Census are poor excuses for postponement," the Congress leader said.

"The whole exercise was to create an election issue for a jaded and about-to-be-faded PM without actually implementing it," he added.

Unlike the Lok Sabha, where two of the 456 MPs present in the House voted against the Nari Shakti Vandan Adhiniyam, all the 214 lawmakers present in the Rajya Sabha voted in its favour.

The bill provides for 33 per cent reservation for women in the Lok Sabha and state assemblies. The reservation will come into effect only after the completion of the census and delimitation exercises.

Meanwhile, Bharatiya Janata Party president JP Nadda replied to Rahul Gandhi's statement--three OBCs out of ninety secretaries in govt of India and said "How many secretaries were OBCs from 2004 to 2014? A leader will have to be a leader; tutor will not work out."

JP Nadda in the Rajya Sabha said "In 1992 the Supreme Court said that you should give reservation to OBCs in All India Services. In 1995-96, the SC/ST and OBCs category joined the Services. Today, the cut-off year for the empanelment of secretaries is 1992. The secretaries present are the people before the 1992 batch. How many secretaries were OBC from 2004 to 2014? A leader will have to be a leader; tutor will not work out."

Rahul Gandhi on September 21 in the Lok Sabha said "I was shocked to find out that out of 90 secretaries in govt of India, only three are OBCs. These secretaries only control 5 per cent of the budget. If the country's budget is 44 lakh crore then 2.4 lakh crore controls it."

(With inputs from PTI)