Rajya Sabha Thursday witnessed a heated discussion between the Treasury and Opposition benches over the possibility of Parliament convening again this month, after the government indicated it could soon bring a “very important” bill, widely understood to be the implementation mechanism for women’s reservation.
Union Minister of Parliamentary Affairs Kiren Rijiju made the comments while responding to a question from Congress leader Jairam Ramesh on whether the House would meet on Friday, if it would be adjourned sine die on Thursday, or if it would be adjourned till a later date that would be notified.
Rijiju indicated that the government is committed to delivering on its promise of women’s reservation.
“We have certain Bills and certain important issues which we have shared with our members from the Opposition parties also. We are going to have a very important Bill in the next two to three weeks’ time. So today, the government would propose that the House be adjourned, and we will meet very soon for a very specific period…for the purpose of the session…is already known to the members,” said Rijiju.
To this, Ramesh said, “The government has a single-minded objective of getting some political advantage of passing the Bill, violating the election Model Code of Conduct…and have the Bill passed in the next two to three weeks.”
He added that this is “wholly objectionable”.
Ramesh said Rajya Sabha Leader of Opposition Mallikarjun Kharge has written to Rijiju asking that “the all-party meeting for the purpose which the minister is mentioning be held after the election campaign is over, or after the elections are completed on April 29”.
‘Let us not go into the dates’
Rijiju responded, saying, “We have a…duty, a commitment, which the House has given, Parliament of India has given to the women of this nation.”
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“For us, this has nothing to do with a specific state election…This is a commitment, this is a duty of the House. We have to take it forward because we face certain limitations when looking at the time scale…We have limited time on hand. And we have repeatedly asked members of Opposition parties… the government has conducted various meetings… The principal Opposition party has written to us asking us to convene the meeting after April 29. We have noted down”.
“But the problem is, the government is bound by the timeline, which is its limitation. We have a general election coming in 2029. Today, we are in April 2026… Let us not go into the dates, but please cooperate with the government,” Rijiju said.
He also said that the government has “brought a simple proposal” and there is no point of objection, and “nothing controversial”.
“Women’s reservation Parliament has passed unanimously…there shouldn’t be politics around women’s reservation, that we also agree, you also do. If we don’t convene… how will we make an important decision? We have given a commitment to the people. It is our duty to fulfil it,” he said.
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‘Stop your games’
Kharge also said he had written a letter and asked that an all-party meeting be held to allow opinions and proposals to be expressed.
“We are not against women’s reservation. It has become unanimous with our support. These people… they take credit whenever they want. Everybody agrees…but at what time, how to bring it, how to do it…stop your games. If you had to do it, why didn’t you do it in three years? If you had to do it, why didn’t you bring it at the beginning of this session? We discussed rural development for three days. Could we not have discussed this? You call after the election, we will all cooperate… don’t take credit before the election,” Kharge said.
Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) leader Sanjay Singh backed Kharge’s argument. “If your intentions were pure, you could have brought it in this session. You want to do politics considering the election…not give reservation to women,” Singh said.
Leader of the House in Rajya Sabha J P Nadda said the government is “competent to decide the date and time for legislative business to be done.”
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“You think we’ll take credit… Why don’t you consider that the Bill that you were not able to pass in 30 years…was passed in two days? We have already taken credit for it. You always see everything from the angle of politics, not humanity…,” Nadda said.
To this, Opposition members responded that the matter of women’s reservation has been “remembered after 30 months.”
Ramesh said, “For 30 months, they slept. Suddenly, they have discovered, we don’t need a Census, we don’t need delimitation.”
