LIVE: RS passes Bill to reserve 33% of seats for women in LS, Assemblies

Day 3 of Parliament's special session will commence today. Catch all the latest updates from the session here

7:57 AM

LS passes 128th CAB paving way to 33% reservation for women in parliament

The Lok Sabha on Wednesday passed the Constitution (128th Amendment) Bill, 2023 – the Nari Shakti Vandan Adhiniyam – which seeks to reserve a third of the seats in the Lok Sabha and Legislative Assemblies for women. Union Home Minister Amit Shah indicated in the House that the provision may be implemented by 2029.

Shah said the next government would conduct the census immediately after the 2024 elections, and the delimitation exercise subsequently, to set the process to reserve seats for women in motion. Sources said the delimitation exercise was frozen till 2026 under Article 82 of the Constitution.

7:55 AM

"Women's empowerment intrinsic to BJP's work culture": Amit Shah

Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Wednesday said that women empowerment was not a political issue for the BJP but an idea that is intrinsic to its work culture.

Shah made the remarks during a debate on the draft women's reservation Bill in the Lok Sabha on Wednesday. The Bill, which proposes 33 per cent reservation for women in Lok Sabha and state assemblies, was passed with a brute majority in the Lower House on Wednesday.

7:54 AM

"Major step, but...": BRS MLC K Kavitha flags "omissions" in women's reservation Bill

As the women's reservation bill was passed in the Lok Sabha, marking a legislative landmark for the country, Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) MLC K Kavitha, one of the key advocates for a legislation providing a fairer representation of women in law-making bodies, on Wednesday called it a major step in ensuring stronger and more significant participation of women in the political process.

However, while hailing the passage of the women's quota Bill, she added that the exclusion of an "OBC sub-quota" from the draft legislation was "painful".