Languishing for nearly three decades, the women's reservation bill was eventually tabled in Parliament on Tuesday even as a slugfest ensued between BJP and Congress on claiming credit for the landmark legislation. The bill is expected to see a smooth passage, with MPs from both the ruling and Opposition I.N.D.I.A bloc advocating for its passage in the special session of Parliament.
The bill proposes to reserve one-third of seats in Lok Sabha and state assemblies for women. There will also be a quota for SC/STs within the reserved seats for women. However, the legislation, even if passed, is unlikely to come into effect in the 2024 Lok Sabha elections. The reservation will come into effect only after a delimitation exercise is completed following the census, PTI reported.
However, the bill, which was first introduced in the Lok Sabha on September 12, 1996, has seen several debates and controversial remarks by leaders cutting across party lines. The bill, which was passed in Rajya Sabha in 2010 but failed to clear the Lok Sabha hurdle, was strictly opposed by the RJD and Samajwadi Party.
Here Is How Leaders Have Reacted To The Women's Reservation Bill In The Past:
Yogi Adityanath: In an article in his weekly journal in 2010, Yogi Adityanath, who was then the Gorakhpur MP, claimed that "women power does not require freedom, but protection and channelisation".
Adityanath, who opposed the bill by defying the party line, further wrote, "If a man was to ever get the same attributes as women -- that of humility, love and compassion -- then he is equivalent to god. But if a woman adopts the qualities of men -- that of bravery (shaurya) or masculinity (purusharth) -- then she becomes a devil (rakshasa)."
"As energy can go waste and cause damage if left free and uncontrolled, women power also does not require freedom, but protection," Adityanath had said in the article. He further went on to write, "Stree shakti (women power) is protected by the father when a child, by the husband when an adult and by the son in old age."
Sharad Yadav: Yadav has been a staunch critic of the women's reservation bill. In 1997, Yadav, then Janata Dal MP from Madhepura in Bihar, said in Lok Sabha that if the bill was passed, women with short hair -- a reference to privileged women -- would dominate the legislature. He had said how "par-kati mahilaen" (short-haired) women would represent the causes of rural women. "Kaun mahila hai, kaun nahin hai, keval bal kati mahila bhar nahin rahne denge," Yadav had famously said.
Lalu Prasad Yadav: The RJD supremo was among the leaders who demanded a quota for Dalits and backward castes in the bill. He had called the bill a "political blunder" and diversionary tactic.
"We will not oppose reservation. We will stick to our old stand of reservation within the reservation. The Bill must include reservations for Muslim women, women from backward classes and Dalits," Lalu Yadav had said after the bill was passed in Rajya Sabha in 2010.
Mulayam Singh Yadav: The Samajwadi Party patriarch had kicked up a row twice with his remarks on the legislation. When the bill was tabled in the Rajya Sabha in 2010, Mulayam had said, "The women reservation bill, if passed in present format, would provoke young men to whistle in Parliament."
Two years later, addressing a rally in Uttar Pradesh's Barabanki district, the SP supremo had said the bill would only benefit rich and attractive women of the society. "The women reservation bill in its present form would only benefit rich and urban women... our poor and rural women are not attractive," he had said.
READ | 27 Years, 8 Govts, 186 RS Votes: History, Politics And Status Of Women's Reservation Bill
Asaduddin Owaisi: The AIMIM chief and Hyderabad MP in 2010 had termed the women's reservation bill "regressive" and claimed that it was not in the interest of Muslims. He also claimed that the legislation would will be a "death knell" for the minority community as the House "will eventually turn into a Hindu Lok Sabha".
Arun Jaitley: Speaking in Parliament in 2010, Arun Jaitley, then Leader of Opposition, said without the "historic legislation", the situation of women "will not change for the next 63 years". The privilege of supporting it has been diluted by "some of the most shameful incidents in India's parliamentary history", Jaitley had further said.
Sushma Swaraj: The veteran BJP leader said the women reservation bill was a milestone in India's history. "There are certain bills that become milestones. Such bills change the lifestyle of a particular section of society. The 73rd, 74th and 81st Constitution Amendment Bills will come in the category of such bills that have become milestones. The 73rd and 74th Constitution Amendment Bills brought a revolutionary change in the life of women which provide 33% reservation for women in municipalities and gram panchayats," Swaraj said in Parliament in 2010.