New Delhi: Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Friday slammed the Congress and its allies for the defeat of a Constitution amendment bill in the Lok Sabha, and said their mindset is neither in the interest of women nor the country.
The bill, which failed the LS test, sought to increase the number of seats to a maximum of 850 from the current 543 to implement a 33 per cent women’s quota in legislative bodies before the 2029 Parliamentary polls.
“Rejecting the bill that was essential for 33 per cent reservation to women, celebrating it, and raising victory cries over it was truly reprehensible and beyond imagination,” Shah said in a message on X after the Constitution (131st Amendment) Bill failed to secure a two-thirds majority in the Lower House on Friday night.
“Today, a very strange scene unfolded in the Lok Sabha as the Congress, TMC, DMK, and the Samajwadi Party did not allow the passage of the essential Constitution amendment bill, the ‘Nari Shakti Vandan Adhiniyam’.
“Now, the women of the country will not get 33 per cent reservation in the Lok Sabha and state assemblies, which was their right. The Congress and its allies have done this, not for the first time but repeatedly. Their mindset is neither in the interest of women, nor the country,” Shah said in a message in Hindi.
The home minister also warned the Congress and other parties which opposed the bill that this insult to “Nari Shakti” will travel far and wide.
“The opposition will have to face the wrath of women, not only in the 2029 Lok Sabha elections but at every level, in every election, and at every place,” Shah said.
When put to vote in the Lower House, 298 members voted in support of the bill, while 230 voted against it.
Out of the 528 members who voted, the bill required 352 votes to secure a two-third majority required for the passage of a Constitution amendment bill in the Lok Sabha.
According to the bill, Lok Sabha seats were to be increased to a maximum of 850 from the current 543 to “operationalise” the women’s reservation law before the 2029 parliamentary polls, following a delimitation exercise based on the 2011 Census.
Seats were also to be increased in states and UT assemblies to accommodate 33 per cent reservation for women.
