Parliament passes women's reservation bill
New Delhi (PTI): Parliament approved a bill for reserving one-third of seats in the Lok Sabha and state assemblies for women with the Rajya Sabha unanimously clearing it on Thursday. All 214 MPs present in the House voted in favour of it.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi thanked the MPs for supporting the legislation. Just before the House took up voting on the bill, Modi said a constructive approach of all political parties to this bill will reinvigorate the Nari Shakti.
Once more women assume leadership roles and join the nation-building process, he said, adding they will become a guarantee of the country's bright future.
The Constitution (128th Amendment) Bill -- Nari Shakti Vandan Adhiniyam -- was moved in Rajya Sabha by Law Minister Arjun Ram Meghwal.
The bill was passed by the Lok Sabha on Wednesday. It was the first bill taken up by Parliament after its proceedings during a special session moved to the new building.
According to the bill, it will come into effect after the delimitation of Lok Sabha constituencies which will be carried out after the completion of the next population census.
At present, women make up for nearly half of India's 95 crore registered voters but account for only 15 per cent of lawmakers in Parliament and 10 per cent in the state assemblies.
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Congress using hijab issue to pacify minority anger, alleges Karnataka LoP R Ashoka
Bengaluru: Leader of Opposition in the Assembly R. Ashoka has accused the Congress government of using the hijab issue to placate what he described as discontent among minority voters after the Davanagere by-election.
In a post on X on Wednesday, Ashoka alleged that the state government, instead of addressing issues such as price rise, corruption, farmers’ distress and law and order, was attempting to retain its minority vote base by reviving the hijab issue.
Referring to the 2022 dress code introduced by the BJP government, which prohibited hijab in schools and colleges, Ashoka said the Karnataka High Court had upheld the policy and emphasised the importance of discipline in educational institutions.
He questioned the Congress government’s move to revisit the issue and asked whether setting aside the court-backed policy to benefit one community could be described as secularism.
Ashoka further alleged that while the government was willing to permit hijab, it continued to prohibit saffron shawls.
He accused the government of dividing students on religious lines rather than treating schools and colleges as spaces of equality.
Drawing a comparison with Mamata Banerjee’s government in West Bengal, Ashoka claimed that excessive appeasement politics had harmed the state and warned that the Congress in Karnataka could face a similar political response.
He said voters in Karnataka would teach the Congress a lesson for what he termed “vote-bank politics” and for compromising constitutional and judicial principles.
