WOMEN'S EMPOWERMENT AND ELECTORAL REFORMS: MODI'S HISTORIC STANCE AND VISION

The recent passage of the women’s reservation bill has shed light on the consistent efforts of PM Narendra Modi towards greater representation of women in policy-making. Rewinding two decades back, as the General Secretary of the BJP, Modi has been an ardent supporter of women’s empowerment and electoral reforms.

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In the year 2000, while the women’s reservation bill was still debated in committees, Modi’s support was unwavering. He had strongly favoured an interim agreement with all recognized parties on a minimum reservation for women, awaiting the joint parliamentary committee’s findings. Modi’s vision finally saw the light of day 23 years later, with the bill’s passage in both houses of Parliament by near-unanimous voting.

Expressing his views way back in Chandigarh, Modi emphasised the need for political parties to come together and set a minimum number of women candidates for Lok Sabha and state legislatures. He also endorsed the idea, then proposed by Chief Election Commission (CEC) MS Gill, of derecognizing parties that did not adhere to this norm.