Cabinet clears women reservation bill

After a flurry of political activities late in the evening yesterday, which saw an out-of-turn Cabinet meeting and BJP chief J P Nadda's meeting with the central ministers, the agenda of the special session of the parliament finally became clear. The Union Cabinet yesterday approved the women's reservation bill.

The women's reservation bill has been pending since almost three decades. It seeks out-of-turn 33% reservation to women in parliament and state legislatures.

Confirming the development, minister of state for food processing industries and Jal Shakti, Prahlad Patel announced the move on X, formerly Twitter.

"Only the Modi government had the moral courage to fulfil the demand for women's reservation which was proved by the approval of the Cabinet. Congratulations Narendra Modi ji and congratulations to the Modi government," the minister had posted on X. The tweet, however, was deleted later.

The principal Opposition party, Congress, welcomed the move but criticised the fact that the proposed bill was not discussed among all the parties ahead of the special session of parliament.

Senior Congress leader Jairam Ramesh wrote on X, "It's been a long-standing demand of the Congress party to implement women's reservation. We welcome the reported decision of the Union Cabinet and await the details of the Bill. This could have very well been discussed in the all-party meeting before the Special Session, and consensus could have been built instead of operating under a veil of secrecy."