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PremiumParliament Special Session Day 4 Highlights: After receiving a unanimous support in Lok Sabha, women's reservation bill, aka Nari Shakti Vandan Adhiniyam, was passed in the Rajya Sabha on Thursday. 215 MPs vote in favour of the bill, while zero MPs vote against it.
The bill will grant 33 percent seats to women in Lok Sabha and state legislative assemblies. The moment arrived after a long wait of more than 25 years.
The bill was first introduced by Prime Minister Narendra Modi in the Lok Sabha on Tuesday and it was passed by the lower house on Wednesday. Now, the bill would require a special majority in the upper house. Which means, it must be supported by a majority of not less than two-thirds of the members of the House “present and voting".
On the same day, Lok Sabha will discuss the success of Chandrayaan-3. Rajya Sabha, on Wednesday, unanimously adopted the resolution congratulating the scientists on the success of Chandrayaan-3.
It was adopted at the conclusion of the discussion on 'India's Glorious Space Journey marked by the successful soft landing of Chandrayaan -3.'
The Parliament's five-day special session began on the 18th of September and will conclude on 22 September. On 19 September, the Indian lawmakers were shifted from the old Parliament building to the new one. PM Modi appealed not to forget the old building as will remain a witness to a myriad of historic decisions and moments. Acknowledging PM Modi's suggestion, Lok Sabha Speaker on Tuesday renamed the old Parliament building “Samvidhan Sadan"
Read the latest updates on this big story here:
Rajya Sabha on 21 September passed Nari Shakti Vandan Adhiniyam (Women's Reservation Bill). 215 MPs vote in favour of the bill. Zero MPs vote against it.
On Rajya Sabha LoP Mallikarjun Kharge's question about when the Bill will be implemented Union Minister of State for Law & Justice, Parliamentary Affairs and Culture, Arjun Ram Meghwal replies,"...Do not doubt(about implementation)...' Modi Hai Toh Mumkin Hai'..."
On the Women's Reservation Bill, BJP MP Hans Raj Hans said, "...Only a party with intention and policy can make it possible...It is a historic and happy moment for women..."
Speaking on the Women's Reservation Bill In Rajya Sabha, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said, "This bill will lead to a new confidence in the people of the country. All members and political parties have played a significant role in empowering women and enhancing 'Nari Shakti'. Let us give the country a strong message."
"I want to credit former Prime Minister PV Narasimha Rao's govt for having brought in 33 percent reservation in the panchayat raj at that time. As a result, we have seen a groundswell at the panchayat level, where 33% reservation today, by many states es has been increased to 50 percent...showing contribution of women at the panchayat level," says Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman in Rajya Sabha on Women's Reservation Bill.
"The Narendra Modi government introduced the first bill in the new Parliament on the occasion of Ganesh Chaturthi in the honour of women. This historic decision will be remembered for generations," says Union minister G Kishan Reddy on Women's Reservation Bill.
"It's a historic bill and it's going to transform the country. Once women participate actively in decision-making at the political level, the benefits will reach the grassroots level," says BJP MP Col Rajyavardhan Rathore on the Women’s Reservation Bill.
On the Women's Reservation Bill, Union Minister Kiren Rijiju says, "No one should criticise the Women's Reservation Bill. Everyone must support it... If Congress can not bring the bill and if the BJP under the leadership of PM Modi has the courage to bring the bill, let's celebrate it."
Parliament Special Session LIVE Updates: On the Women's Reservation Bill, Congress Rajya Sabha MP Deepender Singh Hooda says, "...The BJP's intent in this is not clear... If the intent was women's empowerment, then it should have been implemented immediately... Earlier too, when the Bill was introduced in 2010 or 1979, the BJP opposed it... Today we are trying to pass this in Rajya Sabha with common consensus..."
Parliament Special Session LIVE Updates: On Women's Reservation Bill, BJP MP Ajay Mishra Teni says, " This is for the empowerment of women and it should be seen as a good step...this shows the intentions of PM Modi and his thoughts towards women empowerment. We all must thank PM Modi..."
Parliament Special Session LIVE Updates: On the Women's Reservation Bill, TMC MP Dola Sen says, "You must have seen how the decision on NPR, NRC, and CAA happened. How the decision on the farmers' bill happened you had seen...For the first time in the history of the Parliament...I was suspended... We will welcome it if they implement it (Women's Reservation Bill)..."
Parliament Special Session LIVE Updates: During the discussion on Women Reservation Bill in Rajya Sabha, Congress leader KC Venugopal asked, "It was Congress who gave the first woman PM, woman President, woman Lok Sabha Speaker, and woman Governor but the BJP is trying to become champions of women's rights. Why is the BJP running away from caste census if they care about OBCs."
Parliament Special Session LIVE Updates : TMC MP Derek O'Brien slammed BJP on Women Reservation Bill in Rajya Sabha, saying , “Today, the health, finance, commerce, and industry ministries are all headed by women in West Bengal but the BJP could not get a single women CM out of 16 CMs and they are preaching to us on women's rights."
Karti Chidambaram spoke on Chandrayaan 3 in Lok Sabha. He said, “There are certain events in a nation's history which uplift the entire national mood, and August 23, 2023, was definitely a golden moment in our history when billions in India watched Chandrayaan-3 land on the unchartered part of the Moon"
Bharatiya Janata Party national vice president, Baijayant Panda's secretary has received a threatening call from an unknown person who said that he would be killed in the same way as Naba Das, a BJD leader who was killed earlier this year.
In a press release, it was said "A threat call was received by an assistant of Jay Panda, National Vice President of BJP, in which the caller threatened that "the same thing will be done to Jay Panda which was done to Naba Das" (the Odisha Cabinet Minister who was assassinated in broad daylight earlier this year). Whether this constitutes a real threat or was a juvenile prank is not possible for us to determine. Since such a message should not be taken lightly, a complaint with all the details of the threat call has been lodged with the Delhi Police yesterday, who are investigating the matter."
Actor Divya Dutta spoke on Women's Reservation Bill and called it a big initiative. "This (Women's Reservation Bill) is a big initiative. It feels really good. The women are being brought to the forefront. To witness a special session of Parliament is an experience in itself..," she said.
Congress Rajya Sabha member Ranjeet Ranjan on Thursday asked why President Droupadi Murmu, a woman and the first person from the tribal community to hold the high office, was not invited for the opening of the new Parliament building.
Initiating a discussion on The Constitution (One Hundred and Twenty-Eighth Amendment) Bill, 2023, which seeks to provide 33 per cent reservation to women in the Lok Sabha and state assemblies, Ranjan also questioned why it took the BJP nine-and-a-half years to bring the bill despite promising it in the party's election manifesto in 2014.
"I want to ask why the president was not invited to the inauguration of the new Parliament building. She is a woman and comes from a tribal community," she said.
Stating that her party supports the bill, Ranjan questioned the need to call a special session to pass it instead of during a regular session.
"Limelight lene ke aadat hai (it is a habit to hog the limelight)," she said, adding that the BJP is now trying to use women before the 2024 Lok Sabha elections.
Actor Tamannaah Bhatia hailed the Women's Reservation Bill and said that the bill will inspire common people to join politics.
CPI(M) Elamaram Kareem spoke Women's Reservation Bill in Rajya Sabha. He said that Women's Reservation Bill is not Naari Shakti but ‘a political achievement’ for the ruling party.
A day after the Women's Reservation bill was cleared in the Lok Sabha, Congress leader Pramod Tiwari on Thursday slammed the Bharatiya Janta Party and said that the Centre's promise of implementation of the bill was similar to "clearance sale of a shop".
"The Women's Reservation Bill is a dream for Sonia Gandhi, she want this bill to be implemented and women to benefit from it. I consider her a champion for this benefit of women. The promise of the bill is like a Bhajpa shop, that is going to be shut down. More like a "clearance sale". The bill was passed but nothing has been said about its implementation date. This means this bill is going to end up just like the other unkept promises of the BJP, such as the provision of jobs, control of price hikes, and benefits to farmers," Tiwari told ANI.
"Na unki neeyat durust na bill durust, (Neither their motive is correct, nor the bill)," added Tiwari.
"If we talk about Rajya sabha, we take responsibility that we will pass this bill with maximum votes," said the Congress leader further.
Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar on Wednesday extended support for the Women's Reservation Bill and said that the bill should be implemented without any delay.
"From the beginning, we have demanded that the bill should be implemented without any delay. The women from the Backward class and Extreme Backward class and the SC/ST should get reservations. It is good that 33 per cent of seats will be reserved for women and we wish that it should increase further" said Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar.
Former PM HD Deve Gowda speaks on Women's Reservation Bill in Rajya Sabha.
TMC MP Saugata Roy in Lok Sabha said, “Chandrayaan is not the result of one particular individual's efforts. It's the result of 50 years of scientific work, done by hundreds of scientists throughout the country,""
AAP MP Dr. Sandeep Pathak spoke on Women's Reservation Bill in Rajya Sabha. He said, “I, on behalf of my party, support the Women's Reservation Bill." However, he added that "the bill aims at befooling women as it won't give reservation to them, but will take reservation from them."
While speaking to news agency ANI, Karti P Chidambaram said, "It's a symbolic gesture. We have supported it wholeheartedly but that's not going to come into effect immediately. There are two conditions in precedence which need to be fulfilled before it becomes operational. One is the Census...the next Census has to be time-consuming but when the Census happens there will also be demands from anybody for the caste census. So that has to be sorted out... The next is delimitation which is even more complicated because if you start allocating seats according to population the southern states which have implemented population control will be penalised...That will be unacceptable...While it is a good gesture we still have a long way to go before it becomes operational"
Vice-President and Rajya Sabha Chairman Jagdeep Dhankhar reconstitutes the panel of Vice-Chairpersons comprising 13 women Rajya Sabha Members for the day as the House discusses the Nari Shakti Vandan Adhiniyam Bill, 2023.
Speaking about women's reservation in legislation, BJP President and Rajya Sabha MP JP Nadda emphasised, "I want to clarify that the Bharatiya Janata Party is not pursuing political gain but rather aims to empower women."
"Due to operational reasons, with effect from 21 September 2023, Indian visa services have been suspended till further notice. Please keep checking BLS website for further updates," India Visa Application Center Canada says
JD(S) leader H D Kumaraswamy on Thursday left for New Delhi to meet Union Home Minister Amit Shah and BJP national President J P Nadda to discuss the alliance between the two parties in Karnataka for the 2024 Lok Sabha elections.
The former Chief Minister said Prime Minister Narendra Modi and JD(S) patriarch and former Prime Minister H D Deve Gowda also may hold talks on this, if required.
Gowda, who is a Rajya Sabha member from Karnataka, is in Delhi.
"This evening there is a meeting, once we have the outcome of the meeting, tomorrow I will share everything openly with your Delhi correspondents," Kumarswamy said before leaving for the national capital.
Union Law Minister Arjun Ram Meghwal on Thursday moved the Women’s Reservation Bill in the Rajya Sabha after passing it in the Lok Sabha yesterday.
Moving the bill in the Upper house of the Parliament, Arjun Ram Meghwal said "Through the Constitutional Amendment Bill that I have brought today, a section will inserted in Article 330, Article 332 and Article 334. Through these, 1/3rd of the seats will be reserved in Lok Sabha and all State Assemblies of the country. This is a major step."
The 'Nari Shakti Vandan Adhiniyam' is the first bill passed by Lok Sabha during the special session after it shifted to the new Parliament building on Tuesday.
The Bill was passed following division with 454 members voting in favour of the legislation and two against it on the motion for the passage moved by Meghwal. The amendments moved by opposition members were negative and there was also voting on clauses of the bill.
Congress MP Shashi Tharoor speaks in Lok Sabha. He said, “On August 23, we scripted history as our unmanned Moon mission's lander module made a flawless soft landing making us only the fourth country to achieve this feat and first to reach the uncharted South pole of Earth's only natural satellite, the Moon. Let me take you back to when our nation's scientists, led by Dr Vikram Sarabhai, began to develop the contours of India's nation space programme in early 1960s."
BJP president and MP JP Nadda said, “We all know that the proceedings in this new Parliament began from Ganesh Utsav and yesterday in Lok Sabha, the Women's Reservation Bill - Nari Shakti Vandan Adhiniyam - was passed without any obstacles. I am confident that it will be passed here unanimously without any obstacles."
Terming the bill as a "post-dated cheque", Nationalist Congress Party (Sharad Pawar faction) MP Supriya Sule slammed the Bharatiya Janta Party for calling a special session for parliament for passing the Women's Reservation Bill. Speaking to ANI ahead of the passage of the bill in the Rajya Sabha, Supriya Sule said "They did this in such a haste, in a special session. There was so much haste that it seemed that they could have done it in December (Winter Session). Even if they did it then, the outcome would have been the same..."
"We are supporting it strongly. But it is a post-dated cheque because neither census nor delimitation has been done. Unless both of them are done it can't be implemented. It will perhaps be implemented in 2029, who knows?"
Congress MP Ranjeet Ranjan spoke on the women's quota bill in the Rajya Sabha, stating, “We want rights. Women don’t want to be pitied."
BJP President JP Nadda speaks in Rajya Sabha on Women's Reservation Bill. He said, “Passage of bill marks massive step towards women empowerment." "...We all know that the proceedings in this new Parliament began from Ganesh Utsav and yesterday in Lok Sabha, the Women's Reservation Bill - Nari Shakti Vandan Adhiniyam - was passed without any obstacles. I am confident that it will be passed here unanimously without any obstacles."
On Women's Reservation Bill, Member of Rajya Sabha PT Usha says, "It's a real 'Amrit Kaal' for women, and we are honoured.
Union minister Rajnath Sing speaks on Chandrayaan-3 success, says "The success of Chandrayaan-3 is a big achievement for us, because several other developed countries still continue to make efforts towards reaching Moon, while we have become the first country to reach the southern pole of the Moon.
On Women's Reservation Bill, Bihar CM Nitish Kumar said, "Why are they delaying it so much. It could have been implemented immediately. Why do we need to wait till 2024?... What's the problem, it should have been done immediately. It (census) was happening every ten years. It started in 1931, and this is the first time that it has been delayed. It is not good...But this (Women's Reservation) thing is nice, there will be some delay in the implementation but it will be good for women whenever it gets implemented."
In Rajya Sabha, Union Law Minister Arjun Ram Meghwal says, "This reservation is vertical as well as horizontal. SC-ST women will also have reservation under this. So, Census and Delimitation are important...As soon as the Bill is passed, there will be Census and Delimitation. It is a Constitutional process. Which seat will go to women, this will be decided by the Delimitation Commission..."
Union Law Minister Arjun Ram Meghwal moves the Women's Reservation Bill in Rajya Sabha.
"Yesterday was a golden moment of India's parliamentary journey and every member of this House, and every leader of every political party is a part of that. I thank you all for supporting this Bill," says PM Modi in Lok Sabha, a day after passage of Nari Shakti Adhiniyam (Women's Reservation Bill) in the House.
Union Minister Meenakashi Lekhi spoke on opposition parties demanding reservations for OBCs in the Women's Reservation Bill. The Union Minister said, "The work that has been done for OBCs hasn't been done for any other...This is just a deviation from the issue...These parties should give the tickets they give, from OBC men to the OBC women. Why do you need a reservation?..."
While speaking to ANO on the Women's Reservation Bill, RSP MP NK Premachandran said, "We all support the bill. There are some reservations regarding the implementation... If the government has the political will to implement it, this is not the way to bring the bill to the House. This will be applicable only after the census and the delimitation. Delimitation will happen only in 2026 because Parliament has passed the law extending the date... Maybe this act will come into action in 2031... What was the need of the special session, this could be done in the winter session... Nothing is transparent, everything is opaque... The bill came on the website when the minister was introducing the bill... Everything is done in an anti-democratic manner with ulterior political gains... This would be an electoral slogan in 2024 to attract women of the country..."
Women's reservation bill, aka Nari Shakti Vandan Adhiniyam, will be discussed in the Rajya Sabha today, Thursday. Lok Sabha will discuss the success of Chandrayaan-3. Rajya Sabha, on Wednesday, unanimously adopted the resolution congratulating the scientists on the success of Chandrayaan-3. The Parliament's five-day special session began on the 18th of September and will conclude on 22 September.
Rajya Sabha MP Krishan Lal Panwar says he is confident that Women's Reservation Bill will get Rajya Sabha's nod today.
Speaking on the Women's Reservation Bill, NCP MP Fauzia Khan said, "I welcome this bill. We have been expecting it for the past 27 years...This bill has been passed in Lok Sabha and I hope will get passed in the Rajya Sabha as well. But when will it be implemented, this is the question...It is still a far-fetched dream for us, women..."
Congress leader Rahul Gandhi doned a different avatar to meet railway porters at Anand Vihar ISBT in Delhi on Thursday. While discussing their trials and tribulations, Congress leader wore porter dress and badge.
