Delhi Assembly passes censure motion against Opposition over defeat of bill on women's quota

Rekha Gupta, who moved the motion in the Special session of the Assembly, slammed the Opposition for pursuing "narrow political gains" and "conspiring" to defeat the Bill, which was passed with a voice vote in the House.

New Delhi: The Delhi Assembly on Tuesday passed a censure motion against the opposition parties over the defeat of a bill seeking to amend the women's quota law in the Lok Sabha recently, with Chief Minister Rekha Gupta calling it "a black chapter of Indian democracy".

Gupta, who moved the motion in the Special session of the Assembly, slammed the Opposition for pursuing "narrow political gains" and "conspiring" to defeat the Bill, which was passed with a voice vote in the House.

The Aam Aadmi Party walked out during the discussion, alleging that they were not allowed to speak freely.

Speaker Vijender Gupta claimed that every opposition member was given time, and they "created drama" of walking out to avoid listening to the ruling members.

In a mark of solidarity with women, the Speaker invited BJP MLA Shikha Roy to conduct the House proceedings for some time.

In a scathing attack on the Opposition parties, the chief minister said that their leaders stooped low while opposing the women's quota Bill for women, and started talking nonsense.

She also slammed women leaders, including West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee and Congress leader Priyanka Gandhi, accusing them of adopting an anti-women stand.

"Priyanka Gandhi gave the 'Ladki Hun Lad Sakti Hun' slogan, and herself ran away when the women were fighting for their rights," she said.

Gupta said the women were looking up to Parliament, hoping to end their wait of 78 years, but the Opposition was bent on defeating the Bill. "It was a sad day and a black chapter of our democracy," she stated.

The Centre, under the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, brought amendments in the 'Nari Shakti Vandan Adhiniyam' to ensure enhanced representation of women in the state legislatures and the Parliament by 2029, but the Bill was defeated. In the past 27 years, the Bill for increased representation of women was tabled in the Parliament seven times, and the Opposition parties always defeated it, she said.

Gupta also said that the Leader of Opposition in the Assembly, Atishi, did not speak on the issue and claimed there must be some "conspiracy" behind it, sympathising with her for surviving in AAP with difficulty.

Earlier in the day, the chief minister led a protest by the ruling BJP MLAs in the Assembly premises over the defeat of the women's quota Bill.

The BJP MLAs and ministers wore black armbands in the House, expressing their protest against the defeat of the Bill.

Both the BJP and AAP MLAs traded charges during the discussion. BJP MLA from Greater Kailash, Shikha Roy, said that the Bill was an opportunity to restore the balance of representation in the legislatures in favour of women and not just any favour.

The Bill was most justified as it maintained balance without reducing the number of seats for men, and raised the number of seats for women. The opposition is wary of getting further politically marginalised with the implementation of 33 per cent reservation for women, she said.

Ministers Manjinder Singh Sirsa and Kapil Mishra slammed the Opposition, including the AAP, over the defeat of the Bill. Sirsa said that the Congress and AAP defeated the women's quota Bill and committed a "sin".

Mishra asserted that the dreams of the women will finally come true, and the Opposition can not stall the women's quota Bill forever.

Opposition members, including Sanjeev Jha, Kuldeep Kumar, Vishesh Ravi and Ajay Dutt, attacked the BJP, asking why no woman was ever appointed as head of the party or the RSS.

They also alleged that the BJP brought the women's quota Bill for votes in the Assembly polls in Bengal and other states.

The Constitution (131st Amendment) Bill was defeated in the Lok Sabha after the opposition parties voted against it.

Under the bill, Lok Sabha seats were to be increased to up to 816 from the current 543 to "operationalise" the women's reservation law before the 2029 parliamentary polls, following a delimitation exercise based on the 2011 Census.