‘Seems Centre won’t implement it’: Udhayanidhi’s big claim on Women’s Reservation Bill

As Tamil Nadu Minister Udhayanidhi Stalin is known for his controversial remarks, including one on ‘Sanatan Dharma’ that has drawn nationwide attention, he is back with another. This time, the DMK leader has taken a swipe at the central government on the hot topic of the hour – the Women’s Reservation Bill, saying that he had doubts if the Centre was willing to implement the Women’s Reservation Bill once it becomes law as they were only talking about a census and delimitation exercise.

Udhayanidhi Stalin on Women’s Reservation Bill

Speaking to the news agency ANI, Udhayanidhi Stalin said, “It seems they (Centre) are not going to implement it (draft women’s reservation law) for the time being. For the last 10 years, we have been demanding such a law. They are saying that they will only do a census and delimitation exercise for now. There is no clarity on when they would implement it.”

Tamil Nadu | On Women's Reservation Bill, Tamil Nadu Minister Udhayanidhi Stalin says, "It seems they are not going to implement it now. For the last 10 years, we have been demanding it (women's reservation ). Now they are saying to do a census, delimitation…There is no clarity… pic.twitter.com/Rk5RtiVVMO

— ANI (@ANI) September 19, 2023

On Tuesday, the Rajya Sabha MP and former Union Minister, Kapil Sibal also raised questions over the implementation of the proposed law. He said that any such Bill or draft legislation can only become law after a census and delimitation exercise.

“They are merely trying to extract political mileage from the tabling of this draft legislation going into the Lok Sabha elections next year. They want to tell the people, especially women that they brought this landmark law into force. They should have done it in 2014. What is so historic about it? There has to be a census and delimitation before the Women’s Reservation Bill is implemented. What if census and delimitation don’t happen?” Sibal said.

Centre names bill as Nari Shakti Vandan Adhiniyam

In the new Parliament building, Union Law Minister Arjun Ram Meghwal introduced the Women Reservation Bill in the first sitting of Lok Sabha. The bill was named “Nari Shakti Vandan Adhiniyam.”

Introducing the bill in the Lok Sabha during the ongoing Parliament special session, the union minister said, “This bill is about women’s empowerment. By amending Article 239AA of the Constitution, 33 per cent of seats will be reserved for women in the National Capital Territory (NCT) of Delhi. Article 330A also provides for reservation of seats for SC/ST in the House of the People.”

He then said that once the ‘Nari Shakti Vandan Adhiniyam’ is passed, the number of seats for women in Lok Sabha will increase to 181.

Speaking at a seminar in Chennai, Tamil Nadu Minister of Sports and Youth Affairs Udhayanidhi had equated ‘Sanatan Dharma’ with diseases and called for it to be eradicated. The statement drew the ire of the BJP, which demanded that he take back his words and issue a public apology. However, he stood up with his words and now wanted to fully eliminate Sanatan Dharma.