'Apna Hai': Sonia Gandhi On Women's Reservation Bill — WATCH

Sonia Gandhi while talking about the Women's Reservation Bill outside Parliament said that "It is Ours."

After the Union cabinet cleared the Women's Reservation Bill on Monday, Congress leader Sonia Gandhi said 'Apna hai, it's ours' when asked about the bill getting the Centre's nod. She said this when entering Parliament to attend the joint sitting of the Lok Sabha and the Rajya Sabha in the newly inaugurated Parliament building, reporters asked her views on the said bill to which she responded by saying, "What about it? It's ours. Apna Hai."

Reportedly, the Union Cabinet cleared the Women's Reservation Bill on Monday. The bill seeks to reserve 33 per cent quota in the Lok Sabha and state legislative assemblies. News agency ANI reported that the Women's Reservation Bill (WRB) was cleared in a key meeting yesterday which was chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

Congress MP Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury said today, "We want the Women's Reservation Bill to be brought and passed as soon as possible. The demand for the Women's Reservation Bill was initiated by UPA and our leader Sonia Gandhi. It took so long, but we will be happy if this is introduced."

When Was The Legislation First Introduced?

The bill was first presented in Lok Sabha on September 12, 1996, as the 81st Amendment Bill, by the Deve Gowda-led United Front government. The bill, however, failed to get passed by the House in time and eventually lapsed with the dissolution of the Lok Sabha. It was then presented by the Atal Bihari Vajpayee-led NDA government in 1998 but, the bill suffered the same fate and lapsed eventually. It was then subsequently reintroduced in 1999, 2002 and 2003 under the Vajpayee-led government but, it still wasn't able to pass through the houses.

In 2008, the Manmohan Singh-led UPA-1 government reintroduced it and sent it to the standing committee. The standing committee presented its report in 2009 and it got the approval of the Cabinet in 2010. It was passed in Rajya Sabha but was never taken up for consideration in Lok Sabha following which it lapsed again.

What Does The Bill Propose?

The Women's Reservation Bill proposes that 33 per cent or one-third of all seats in the Lok Sabha and state assemblies be reserved for women candidates. It also proposes sub-reservation for SCs, STs and Anglo-Indians within the mentioned 33 per cent quota. The bill further says that reserved seats should be rotated after each general election.