BJP to use women’s reservation bill for political gain in LS polls: CPI(M)'s Manik Sarkar

Former Tripura chief minister and CPIM leader Manik Sarkar on Saturday claimed that the BJP-led NDA government passed the womens reservation bill in Parliament this week so that the saffron camp could try to use it to gain political mileage in the 2024 Lok Sabha elections.He also said the Left parties have been battling for womens reservation in Lok Sabha and state assemblies since 1996.

Former Tripura chief minister and CPI(M) leader Manik Sarkar on Saturday claimed that the BJP-led NDA government passed the women's reservation bill in Parliament this week so that the saffron camp could try to use it to gain political mileage in the 2024 Lok Sabha elections.

He also said the Left parties have been battling for women's reservation in Lok Sabha and state assemblies since 1996. Questioning the timing of the introduction of the bill in Parliament, the veteran CPI(M) leader said, ''It was introduced in Parliament nine years after the formation of the Narendra Modi government at the Centre. Why did he not make the same move before? It is clear that the BJP is set to use the passage of the bill in the next general elections,'' The BJP is ''trying to win the hearts of women by the bill before the 2024 Lok Sabha polls but it will only come into effect after the completion of a delimitation exercise and the census'', he claimed. The watershed bill to reserve one-third of seats in the Lok Sabha and state assemblies for women received the Parliamentary nod on Thursday as the Rajya Sabha voted unanimously in favour of it.

Unlike the Lok Sabha, where two of the 456 MPs present in the House had voted against the Nari Shakti Vandan Adhiniyam, all the 214 lawmakers present in the Rajya Sabha voted in its favour.

The 128th Constitution amendment bill, referred to as the Nari Shakti Vandan Adhiniyam, will now require the approval of a majority of state assemblies. It will be implemented after a delimitation exercise to redraw parliamentary and assembly constituencies based on census which the government has said will be commissioned next year.

Sarkar also alleged that the ''Centre had left no stone unturned to gain political mileage through the G-20 Summit''.

"The Centre created hype about the G-20 Summit and promoted the conference as if it was a rare event. But member countries host the summit rotationally. The ruling party tried to project Prime Minister Narendra Modi as viswa guru,'' Sarkar said at a CPI(M) party programme here.

He also accused the Centre of taking credit for ISRO's success in the Chandrayaan mission. "The way ISRO's success was projected as if the central government had done it. The fact is that the mission was successful because of the tireless and persistent efforts of scientists for decades,'' he said.

In a giant leap for its space programme, Indian Space Research Organisation's Moon mission Chandrayaan-3 touched down on the lunar south pole on August 23, propelling the country to an exclusive club of four and making it the first country to land on the uncharted surface.

Claiming that the BJP has been facing a ''tough time since the 2019 Lok Sabha elections, Sarkar said the party would do everything for the next general elections to retain power in Delhi.

The CPI(M) politburo member urged the people to come together against the BJP-led NDA government at the Centre to restore democracy in the country.