Time to give half of country's population its rights: PM Modi to LS MPs on women's quota bill
New Delhi (PTI): Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday appealed to all Lok Sabha members to vote in favour of the women's reservation bill and not do anything that might hurt the sentiments of the country's 'nari shakti'.
Hours before the voting on the Constitution (131st Amendment) Bill, which provides for 33 per cent reservation for women in the Lok Sabha and state assemblies, Modi also said that for four decades, a great deal of politics has been played on the issue of women's quota and it is now time that half the country's population gets its rights.
Members of the Lower House will also vote on the Delimitation Bill and the Union Territories Laws (Amendment) Bill for the delimitation of constituencies and increasing the strength of the Lok Sabha to 816 to implement the proposed amended women's quota law.
"In just a short while, voting will take place in the Lok Sabha. I urge all political parties... I appeal...Please, after due consideration and with complete sensitivity, take a decision and vote in favour of women's reservation.
"On behalf of the country's 'Nari Shakti', I also plead to all members... please do not do anything that might hurt the sentiments of 'Nari Shakti'," Modi said in his appeal in Hindi posted on X.
He said this is a great opportunity to extend service to the women of the country and to honour them, and the MPs should not deprive them of new opportunities.
"I would say to all the members of Parliament... Keeping in mind your mother, sister, daughter and wife at home, listen to your conscience. If this amendment is passed by consensus, the women of the country will become even more empowered. The democracy of the country will become even more empowered," he said.
"Come, let us together create history today. Give the women of India, the country's half population, their rightful due," the PM said.
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PM Modi, myself don't have 'wife issue': Rahul Gandhi
New Delhi (PTI): In a friendly banter, Leader of Opposition Rahul Gandhi on Friday said that Prime Minister Narendra Modi and he didn’t have "the wife issue", as the Congress MP emphasised that everyone has learnt from women in their lives.
Participating in a debate in the Lok Sabha on the three bills introduced for amendments to the women's quota law and setting up a delimitation commission, Gandhi said women are a driving force in the national imagination and national perspective.
"All of us in this room have been influenced, taught, and have learnt a lot from women in our lives – from mothers, sisters, wives," Gandhi said.
"Of course, the prime minister and myself don't have the wife issue, so we don't get that input, but we have our mothers and sisters," he said while referring to Parliamentary Affairs Minister Kiren Rijiju's light-hearted remark that he got a scolding at home as he did not pen a poem for his wife like Union minister Arjun Ram Meghwal did.
Gandhi also lauded his sister and Congress MP Priyanka Gandhi's speech in the Lok Sabha on Thursday.
"Yesterday, I was watching my sister achieve in five minutes what I have not been able to do in 20 years of my political career – make Amit Shah Ji smile," Gandhi said to peals of laughter.
