Atishi slams Women’s Reservation Bill as election-year ploy

New Delhi, Sep 19 (IANS) Delhi Minister Atishi criticised the Women’s Reservation Bill introduced by the Centre and labeled it a ploy intended to deceive women.

Speaking to journalists, Atishi asserted that women would not benefit from reservation just before the 2024 elections.

She said, “According to the Bill, once passed, a census will be conducted, followed by delimitation based on the census data, and then reservation will be granted based on the new delimitation.”

"The census alone takes a minimum of one year, and after that, the delimitation process begins. Even for small areas like the MCD, the Election Commission took six months to complete delimitation. Delimitation for the entire country will take almost 1-2 years," she added.

"Upon reading the 128th Constitutional Amendment Bill clause by clause, it becomes evident that it is not truly a Women's Reservation Bill, but rather it appears to be a strategy to mislead women voters before the 2024 elections," she said.

Atishi also pointed out that, as per the 91st Amendment to the Constitution, delimitation cannot occur before 2026.

This implies that even for the Women’s Reservation Bill under discussion, implementation is likely to happen no earlier than 2027-2028, making it impossible to be put in place for the 2024 elections.

"Why did Prime Minister Narendra Modi announce a sequence of census, delimitation, and then reservation? This seems like an attempt to deceive the women of the country before the elections.

“If the intentions were genuine, one-third of the Lok Sabha seats would have been reserved for women in the 2024 elections. The BJP is a party that disregards women's interests.

“Our demand from Prime Minister Modi is that reservation for women should be implemented in the 2024 elections, without waiting for delimitation and census," Atishi said.

"The BJP is primarily Brij Bhushan's party. It is against women's interests. Modi shows no genuine concern for women's well-being. We urge Prime Minister Modi to act swiftly and implement women's reservation in the 2024 elections, bypassing the need for delimitation and census," she added.

--IANS

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