The Constitution (128th Amendment) Bill, 2023, providing for 33 per cent reservation for women in the Lok Sabha and state assemblies received Parliamentary approval on Thursday with a unanimous vote in its favour by the Rajya Sabha.

The Bill was passed by the Lok Sabha on Wednesday.

Just before the Rajya Sabha took up the voting on the Bill, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said 132 MPs had spoken on the Bill in both Houses and urged the Upper House to support the Bill unanimously. The Bill received 215 votes in favour and none against.

Chairman Jagdeep Dhankhar called for the voting and the Bill received unanimous support of the House in the first instance. Voting by division had to follow as support by two-third of the members present and voting was to be ascertained. Clause-by-clause voting followed from 10.15 pm

Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman intervened in the debate on behalf of the government and said the Bill was not brought because of the coming general elections. The BJP was consistent in supporting reservation for women in Parliament, and gave them quotas in the party at various levels also, she said.

Law and Justice Minister Arjun Ram Meghwal replied to the debate in the House where 72 members participated in the debate.

Mrs Sitharaman said women’s reservation has been part of the election manifestos of the BJP over the years. The Amendment has been thoughtfully crafted. This Bill is not a “jumla”, she asserted. The BJP had supported the Bill during Prime Minister Manmohan Singh’s term.

The finance minister said there would be no delay in the implementation of the legislation. However, there are legal processes to be followed as supplementary amendments in the laws, quasi-judicial delimitation, and the Census were necessary requirements.

She said the year 2026 for delimitation was already known. Readjustment of seats situation was created a long time back. After each Census, the seats are readjusted. The 42nd amendment froze the seats; the delimitation year of 2000 was replaced by 2026.

She said the Census can start in 2024 and then followed up. As far as the OBCs’ issue is concerned, there is no Constitutional reservation for them. Therefore, the Bill deals with 33 per cent for General, SCs and STs only.

Mrs Sitharaman further said that in 1989, the BJP alone had not opposed the Rajiv Gandhi government’s Bill. There was an issue of Centre-state relations. Several state governments thought the Centre would take away the rights of the state governments. Leaders like N T Rama Rao, Jyoti Basu and R K Hegde were among the prominent leaders who opposed the Congress Government then.

Leader of the Opposition Mallikarjun Kharge, just before the Bill was taken up for voting, asked when would the law be implemented and whether the OBCs would be provided reservation.

He said, “You can implement the law now; when the number goes up, you can revise it. You have taken so many steps like demonetisation, farm laws, etc. suddenly. You did not provide for the OBCs, who constitute more than 60 per cent of the population, how will their women get reservation? Give a date when the law will be implemented; otherwise it will be considered a jumla.”

Recalling the history of earlier Bills on the subject, Mrs Sitharaman said the Bill passed during Dr Manmohan Singh’s government was transmitted to the Lok Sabha but could not be cleared, and lapsed on the dissolution of the Lok Sabha in 2014. There is no Bill pending on the subject.

She said the government was not late in bringing the Bill; there was a need for consensus, as well as, social and economic empowerment of women. The government had continuously taken steps for the welfare of women, including property rights for Kashmiri women even after marrying outside Kashmir.

The government brought the Triple Talaq law to protect Muslim women and brought several schemes to help women socially and economically. Women were given a place in the armed forces and in Agniveers.

Initiating the discussion, Mrs Ranjeet Ranjan (Congress) said the law should not be delayed on any pretext. BJP president J P Nadda said the Government had no intention to delay the law implementation but wanted to ensure a fool-proof arrangement through delimitation.

He said the Delimitation Commission would be a quasi-judicial body and be able to deal with the issue of selection of seats for women. Mr Mahesh Jethmalani (BJP-Nominated) said the law could be implemented in State Assembly polls in 2026.