'Ye Hamara Hai': Sonia Gandhi On Women's Reservation Bill - Zee Exclusive

Congress leader Sonia Gandhi said that ‘this bill is ours’, implying that her party was committed to the long-awaited legislation.

New Delhi: Sonia Gandhi, the former Congress President on Tuesday expressed her support for the Women Reservation Bill. She said that ‘this bill is ours’, implying that her party was committed to the long-awaited legislation. As she entered the Parliament for a momentous joint session of the Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha, Sonia Gandhi said that the Women’s Reservation Bill was her party’s initiative and that she was happy that it was finally being introduced.

The historic bill, which aims to give 33 per cent quota to women in the lower house and the state assemblies, was approved by the Union Cabinet on Monday in a meeting led by Prime Minister Narendra Modi. The bill was passed by the Rajya Sabha in 2010, but lapsed as it could not clear the Lok Sabha.

Congress MP Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury urged the government to pass the bill as soon as possible. He said that the Congress leader Sonia Gandhi had started the demand for the bill when the UPA was in power.

Jairam Ramesh, the Congress General Secretary in charge of Communications, also welcomed the Cabinet decision and said that his party had been asking for the implementation of the bill for a long time. He posted on X that he was looking forward to the details of the bill. He also said that the bill could have been discussed in the all-party meeting before the special session and a consensus could have been reached instead of behind-the-scenes politics.

The bill proposes that one-third of the total seats in the Lok Sabha and the state assemblies, including those reserved for SCs and STs, shall be reserved for women. The reservation will be done by an authority prescribed by Parliament. The reservation will expire after 15 years from the commencement of this Amendment Act.