Former Union Law Minister Kapil Sibal on September 24 slammed Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s central government, saying that the earliest reservation for women would come into effect is the Lok Sabha elections in 2034.
He even claimed that the bill was brought keeping in mind the upcoming state and Sabah polls.
Mr Sibal made the remarks amid a new ‘Dil Se’ initiative to hold bi-weekly dialogues with journalists on important issues.
In his first episode posted on social media, Sibal was asked about the Women’s Reservation Bill, the uproar over BJP MP Ramesh Bidhuri’s derogatory remarks against BSP MP Denmark Ali, and his views on the new Parliament House. Ta.
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Commenting on Bidhuri’s remarks, Sibal said the Bharatiya Janata Party MP should be “expelled” from Parliament.
“I’ve never seen anything like this in my 30-year career as a member of Congress. I’ve never seen so much foul language and vitriol. The Speaker said he would look into the record and then delete it. I was also surprised and shocked.’ This is completely incomprehensible,” Sibal said.
Also read: Rahul Gandhi says, “The Women’s Reservation Bill is great, but it is a distraction…”
Such people should be expelled from Congress, Sibal said in Biduri.
“Imagine what would have happened and what the chairman would have done if members of[Danish Ali’s]community had done something similar,” Sibal said.
“It’s the kind of poison we’ve built in society where people in certain communities can get away with anything they say,” Sibal said.
Regarding the Women’s Reservation Bill, Sibal said he doubted whether the government was serious about passing the bill immediately.
“If they were real in 2014, it would have been done,” he said.
When asked when the bill would come into force, Sibal said: “Not in 2029. I’ll explain why later. The last demarcation was done in 1976… after that, it clearly stated that the demarcation line would be frozen. There was a constitutional amendment to Article 84.” “Even if we were to start a census now in 2026, as you know, this is a huge survey, with a population of over 1.4 billion people, and it would take a year to a year and a half,” he said. said.
“Not only that, but if you are going to include castes, which is a demand of a large section of north India, I don’t think the Bharatiya Janata Party will be able to resist that demand, because if they resist that demand, they will go. ‘It will take much longer to lose the election,’ he added.
He said setting boundaries is a long-term and huge undertaking, stressing that the earliest possible date for women’s admission is 2034.
Asked if the bill was brought keeping in mind the state and assembly polls, Sibal said, “There is no question. Why is there a need to call a special session to implement this bill in 2023?” Is there any?” he said.
“The government has not answered that in Parliament. The question that should be asked is that the Prime Minister and Minister of Justice should explain why they did not do that in 2014, and there is no answer,” he said. .
“Why now, I feel like a general fatigue is setting in as far as this government is concerned. I think they want to grab some issues for the 2024 elections. One,” he said.
When asked if the bill would work in favor of the government, Sibal said it may or may not, and why the opposition did not bring the bill when they had the opportunity to do so. He suggested that the campaign focus on asking the Center whether In 2014.
“I think the younger ones who are not included in the bill will be marginalized and there will be a rift. They can’t afford to do that, they won’t include the younger ones, but they can’t afford to include them either.” Because there is a backlash. For them, it’s Hobson’s choice,” Sibal said.
Sibal launched Insaaf, a non-election platform aimed at fighting fraud.
With input from the agency.
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