Chandigarh, Apr 20 (PTI) Delhi Environment Minister Manjinder Singh Sirsa on Monday lashed out at opposition parties over the women’s quota bill failing to secure a two-thirds majority in the Lok Sabha, saying they had committed a “grave sin” for which they would face the wrath of women.
Speaking to reporters in Amritsar, Sirsa said opposition parties, including the Congress and the AAP, opposed the bill as they did not want the BJP to get credit for implementing women’s reservation.
“You have committed a grave sin by voting against women. This shows your mentality. You have betrayed daughters and sisters,” the minister said.
“Congress, AAP and other parties are answerable in the court of public,” he said, adding, “You will face the ire of sisters and daughters.” Sirsa claimed that the opposition parties opposed the bill because they did not want the credit to go to the BJP.
“If women got reservation in the Lok Sabha and Vidhan Sabhas, then people would have asked the Congress and its allies why they did not do it in the last 70 years,” said Sirsa.
He said Punjab would have benefited as its share of Lok Sabha seats would have gone up from 13 to 20, and the number of assembly seats from 117 to over 170.
Reiterating Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s message, Sirsa said the fight to ensure that women get their rights will continue.
While 298 members voted in support of the Constitution (131st Amendment) Bill, 230 MPs voted against it on April 17. Out of the 528 members who voted, the Bill required 352 votes for a two-thirds majority.
The Bill proposed to increase the number of Lok Sabha seats to 816 from the current 543 to “operationalise” the women’s reservation law before the 2029 parliamentary polls, following a delimitation exercise based on the 2011 Census.
Seats were also to be increased in assemblies of states and Union territories to accommodate 33 per cent reservation for women. PTI CHS SUN KSI DIV DIV
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