“Congress committed to 33% quota for women”

way2barak, April 20: The Congress, on Sunday, urged the government to implement women’s reservation without delay within the existing Lok Sabha strength, staging a protest.

They also accused the Modi government of holding back the quota for political reasons.

The protest by the Delhi Pradesh Congress Committee comes two days after the Constitution (131st Amendment) Bill to implement 33 per cent reservation for women in legislatures in 2029 and increase the number of Lok Sabha seats to 816 was defeated in the Lok Sabha.

Congress General Secretary in charge of communications Jairam Ramesh, who participated in the protest, said, “When the Bill was passed, we (the Congress) demanded that the ‘Nari Shakti Vandan Adhiniyam’ be implemented from the 2024 Lok Sabha elections. That demand was ignored and we were told the date when it would be enforced would be notified later. They kept silent for nearly 30 months. Suddenly, on the night of April 16, the Bill was notified.”

Ramesh alleged that when it became clear that the Bill with provisions for delimitation would not pass due to opposition unity, the government “rushed to notify the women’s reservation law” and is now claiming that the Congress is against women’s reservation.

The protest, led by Delhi Congress president Devender Yadav, saw party workers march towards the BJP headquarters, raising slogans as part of their demonstration.

Among those present were senior leaders, including All India Mahila Congress president Alka Lamba, Delhi Women’s Congress chief Pushpa Singh and AICC spokesperson Ragini Nayak.