Women's bill clears Lok Sabha

Lower House passes landmark legislation by 454-2 as parties extend unanimous support despite a few reservations

- Saubhadra Chatterji

The Lok Sabha scripted history on Wednesday as it passed a bill reserving a third of seats for women in national and state legislatures with an overwhelming majority, marking the first time such a legislation has cleared the Lower House since one was first introduced nearly three decades ago.

With 454 members in support and only two against, the women’s reservation bill easily crossed the benchmark of two-thirds support required for constitutional amendments. The Nari Shakti Vandan Adhiniyam or the 128th Constitution (Amendment) Bill is all set to be approved by the Rajya Sabha on Thursday.

“I thank MPs across party lines who voted in support of this bill. The Nari Shakti Vandan Adhiniyam is a historic legislation which will further boost women empowerment and will enable even greater participation of women in our political process,” Prime Minister Narendra Modi posted on X (formerly Twitter).

During the nine-hour debate, the Opposition, led by Congress parliamentary party chief Sonia Gandhi, demanded quota for women from backward groups and alleged that the timeline for the implementation of the bill was too long, but almost all of them ended up backing the legislation. Only All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen (AIMIM) members Asaduddin Owaisi and Imtiaz Jaleel voted against the bill.

Union home minister Amit Shah dismissed the Opposition’s allegation that the government was delaying the bill’s implementation, pointing to constitutional hurdles. “Right after the 2024 elections, the process of delimitation will begin and very soon one-third seats of this house will be filled by women,” he said.