'Nari Shakti Mockery Adhiniyam': Chidambaram's dig at govt over women's reservation bill

Senior Congress leader P Chidambaran on Tuesday took a swipe at the government over the women's reservation bill introduced in the Lok Sabha, saying the proposed legislation is an ''election jumla'' and should be called 'Nari Shakti Mockery Adhiniyam'.

The government on Tuesday introduced a constitutional amendment bill reserving 33 per cent seats for women in the Lok Sabha and state assemblies.

The women's reservation bill, named Narishakti Vandan Adhiniyam, was introduced in the Lower House of Parliament by Law Minister Arjun Ram Meghwal. It will come into effect only after a delimitation exercise is completed and is therefore unlikely to be in force during the next Lok Sabha elections in 2024.

In a post on X, Chidambaram said, ''The Women's Reservation Bill introduced today in the Lok Sabha is a typical example of BJP's deceptive politics.'' ''The bill should be called by the name 'Nari Shakti Mockery Adhiniyam (Bill)','' the former Union minister said. The bill ''mocks'' the women of India and asks them to wait for the next census, he claimed.

''It further mocks the women of India and asks them, after the census, to wait for the delimitation of constituencies,'' Chidambaram said.

The government must have ''reasoned'' that the women of the country have been waiting since March 9, 2010, and hence, they can be asked to wait indefinitely, he said.

''It is not a bill (Adhiniyam), it is an election jumla,'' Chidambaram said.

In another post, the Rajya Sabha member said the date of the next census is indeterminate and the date of the next delimitation is indeterminate, and perhaps controversial.

''The Women's Reservation is dependent on two indeterminate dates! Can there be a greater jumla?'' he said.

The women's reservation can be implemented immediately on the basis of the updated voters lists, Chidambaram argued.

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