SP supports women's reservation, slams Centre on census, delimitation

Samajwadi Party's Akhilesh and Dimple Yadav backed women's reservation, blaming the Centre for mishandling census and delimitation. Meanwhile, a Constitution Amendment Bill to implement the quota from 2029 was defeated in the Lok Sabha.

SP Backs Women's Quota, Blames Centre

Samajwadi Party MPs Akhilesh Yadav and Dimple Yadav on Friday reiterated their support for women's reservation while accusing the Centre of mishandling constitutional provisions related to census and delimitation. Speaking to reporters, Akhilesh Yadav said, "We have stated our stance clearly. We are in favour of women's reservation. Samajwadi Party and the Opposition did not oppose women's reservation."

Dimple Yadav, meanwhile, alleged lapses on the part of the government, saying, "It is a constitutional provision that you have to conduct a census, and then delimitation will be done. This is a mistake on the part of the government, but they have tried to blame others for their mistake." She further added, "All this was completely planned by the BJP because they knew that the Samajwadi Party and the entire opposition had passed the Women's Reservation Bill in 2023. They wanted to add delimitation to it..."

'BJP is Anti-Women,' Says Dimple Yadav

Raising concerns over issues affecting women, Yadav said, "The women of the country are troubled by inflation, and they are troubled by the situation regarding education and security. BJP is anti-women. They refused to give a reservation to OBC women. They will have to face the anger of OBC women in Uttar Pradesh."

Vote on Delimitation, Not Reservation Bill: MP

Samajwadi Party MP Iqra Hassan said that the recent voting in Parliament was not on the Women's Reservation Bill, asserting that the 2023 legislation "remains intact." She added that the voting was on delimitation. "The way it is being presented and slogans against women are being raised here, it appears that the people from the ruling side are not aware that this voting was not on the Women's Reservation Bill 2023 because that bill stands intact. The voting on the bill on delimitation has failed today. We demand that the govt that it should implement women's reservation in 2029," she said.

Amendment Bill Defeated in Lok Sabha

The Constitution Amendment Bill for the implementation of Women's Reservation from the 2029 general elections was defeated in the Lok Sabha on Friday, with the opposition parties voting against it A Constitution Amendment Bill is passed if it gets the support of not less than two-thirds of the members present and voting.

In the division that took place following the debate on the three bills, 298 members supported the bill while 230 voted against it. Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla announced the results of the division. "The Constitution (131st Amendment) Amendment Bill did not pass as it did not achieve a 2/3 majority during voting in the House," he said. (ANI)

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