Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Wednesday participated in the ongoing parliamentary discussion on the Women's reservation bill and revealed that once the bill is passed both the census and delimitation, the two deciding factors for women's reservation, will be done soon after the election. He explained the Delimitation Commission is the only body that can take a call on which seats to reserve adding that 'if we will do it, you will question it. He said, "The delimitation commission is an important body for the poll process in the country."
#WATCH | "Some people on social media are saying that this bill should not be supported as there is no reservation of OBC, Muslims. If you don’t support this bill, will reservation happen sooner? If you support this bill, then will at least be guarantee..." Union Home Minister… pic.twitter.com/q5CSeWaZI1
— ANI (@ANI) September 20, 2023
"If we are reserving one-third of seats, then who will do it? If we do it, you will question it. Therefore the Delimitation Commission should do it. The idea is to ensure transparency," he said.
"Also, some people on social media are forming opinions, saying don't support the bill because there is no OBC, or Muslim reservation and it needs delimitation. Even if you don't support it, it won't come before 2029, at least begin the process," he added.
He also questioned, why the caste reservation matter is being discussed only today and asked why the bill has not been passed till now as this is the fifth attempt to pass the bill.
"...This is the fifth attempt to bring the Women's Quota Bill. From Devegowda ji to Manmohan Singh ji, four attempts were made to bring this bill...what was the reason this bill was not passed?..." he said.
Initiating his speech today, Amit Shah said that unlike the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), other parties see women's empowerment as a "political issue and a tool for vote bank politics".
Shah further said that for the BJP and Prime Minister Narendra Modi, women's empowerment is an issue of "principles and beliefs."
"For some parties, the issue of women empowerment can be a political agenda or a slogan to win elections. However, for my party and my leader Narendra Modi, women empowerment is not a political issue, but it is a matter of "principles and beliefs," he said.