Mallikarjun Kharge and Nirmala Sitharaman engaged in a heated exchange in the Rajya Sabha regarding the Women’s Reservation Bill. The bill, seeking 33 percent reservation for women in the Lok Sabha and legislative assemblies, was tabled by the Centre and subsequently passed on Wednesday, September 19.
Kharge, the Leader of Opposition in Rajya Sabha, claimed that the Women’s Reservation Bill had already been passed in 2010 but was halted. He also criticized political parties for allegedly selecting ‘weak’ women candidates and not choosing educated and capable ones.
“Largely, ladies from backward and scheduled castes are not that literate. Their literacy rate is low, because of which all political parties have a habit of nominating weak women,” Kharge who is Leader of Opposition in the Upper House said.
“They (parties) won’t choose those who’re educated and can fight,” the Congress leader said. “I know how backwards and scheduled caste people are chosen by political parties,” Kharge said, amid protest from treasury members, who took exception to his remarks.
Kharge was speaking in the Upper House after the Union Law Minister Arjun Ram Meghwal introduced the new Women’s Reservation Bill earlier today during the first sitting of the Lok Sabha in the new Parliament complex.
In response, the Union finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman, countered Kharge’s statement, stating that it was unacceptable to make a sweeping generalization that all parties choose ineffective women. She emphasised that her party and the Prime Minister had empowered numerous women, including Rashtrapati Droupadi Murmu.
“We respect the leader of the opposition but to make a sweeping statement that all parties choose women who are not effective is absolutely unacceptable. We all have been empowered by our party, PM. President Droupadi Murmu is an empowered woman,” she said.
Kharge defended his stance by stating that women from backward and Scheduled Tribes backgrounds do not receive the same opportunities. Discussions for the passing of the Nari Shakti Vandana Adhiniyam Bill, which guarantees 33 percent reservation for women in Parliament and Legislative Assemblies, were scheduled for the following day in the Rajya Sabha during the five-day special session.
(With inputs from agencies)
