Rahul Gandhi, the head of the Congress, stated on September 20 that he supported the women’s reservation bill but regretted that the legislation was “incomplete” because it does not include a quota for other backward classes. This came during the current debate over the bill in the Special session of the parliament.
“It (Women’s Reservation Bill) is a big step and I am sure everybody – the treasury benches and the Opposition – in this room agrees that this is a very important step for the women of our country. There is one thing, in my view, that makes this bill incomplete. I would like to have seen OBC reservation included into this bill,” he said in Lok Sabha.
Gandhi further claimed that the BJP tried to invent fresh distractions as soon as the opposition brought up the caste census.
Rahul stated that it would have been appropriate to have the President be visible during the transfer to the new Parliament building because she is a woman and a member of a tribal group.
“This is a nice, tasteful building,” he continued, “but I would have liked to see the President involved in this process.”
Earlier on Wednesday, when former Congress leader Sonia Gandhi, DMK MP Kanimozhi, and NCP’s Supriya Sule criticised the government for not respecting women, the new Parliament erupted with passionate statements from female MPs.
Sonia Gandhi was criticised by the administration when she noted that the UPA government had introduced the bill in 2010. Union minister Smriti Irani spoke on behalf of the government. They believe that failure has no fathers, but success has many, so when the bill arrived, some individuals referred to it as “our bill,” she added.