‘Huge betrayal, election jumla’: Why is Congress protesting against Women’s Reservation Bill?

The Women's Reservation Bill was introduced in the Lok Sabha on Tuesday, sparking outrage in the Opposition ranks. The Congress dubbed it "election jumla" and flagged the need to publish the 2021 census before the Lok Sabha elections. Party leaders asserted that it would take several years for the reservation to come into effect even as LoP Malliarjun Kharge noted that a similar bill had come close to passing in 2010. 

“In a season of election jumlas, this one is the biggest of them all! A huge betrayal of the hopes of crores of Indian women and girls. As we had pointed out earlier, Modi government has not yet conducted the 2021 Decadal Census making India the only country in G20 that has failed to carry out the Census," reminded Congress general secretary Jairam Ramesh.

The Narendra Modi government introduced a constitutional amendment bill to reserve one-third of seats in Lok Sabha and state assemblies for women on Tuesday.

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The senior politician however said that the reservation bill was "nothing but EVM - Event Management" with no clarity about its implementation date. 

Meanwhile Congress MP Manish Tewari dubbed the Bill a “betrayal of the women's movement” with almost no chance of the reservation coming into effect before 2029. 

“Clause 334 A of the Bill says that the reservation will come into effect after the first census post the passage of the Constitutional Amendment Bill and the delimitation which would follow,” he noted.

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While Opposition leaders – including Congress lawmakers – have indicated their willingness to back the Bill, many found flaws within the document. 

“...Who are you giving representation to? Those who don't have representation should be given representation. The major flaw in this bill is that there is no quota for Muslim women and so we are against it,” said AIMIM Chief Asaduddin Owaisi.

(With inputs from agencies)