Women's quota bill makes it past both Houses; India's path to becoming Vishwaguru hits Canada-shaped hurdle

Hello good readers,

As we proceed to give you what you need via this weekly dollop that captures the many spices of Indian and foreign politics, the nation is on the brink of getting a change that has been a long-time coming as the Women's Reservation Bill has been cleared by both the Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha.

Meanwhile, maple syrup might be sweet, but the relations between India and Canada aren't anymore after Prime Minister Justin Trudeau sensationally accused India of being involved in the killing of separatist Hardeep Singh Nijjar. India has junked the claims, but it has started a diplomatic standoff between the two nations.

So, here's diving into all that happened over the course of the week.

Women's Reservation Bill passed in both Houses; Special Session comes to a close

Credit: Sajith Kumar

The Women's Reservation Bill crossed the Parliamentary hurdle with the Rajya Sabha voting in favour of it unanimously, while in the Lok Sabha it was passed with 454 votes for and 2 against. The naysayers were from AIMIM and the party chief Owaisi clarified that the decision to oppose the bill came because it would only benefit savarna (privileged) women.

He also mentioned that since the bill is linked to delimitation, southern states should be wary because there is no going back once that genie is out of the bottle.

Other parties who supported the bill too found a similar flaw, with the opposition uniting in asking for an OBC quota within the bill and seeking its immediate implementation. The Parliament during the Special Session saw some rousing speeches from Congress's Sonia Gandhi, DMK's Kanimozhi Karunanidhi, and NCP's Supriya Sule while the BJP fronted a male speaker to go first, with Amit Shah justifying that men too can speak on women's issues.

The entire debate around the issue had some politically charged moments, and others that were relatively light - including TMC's Kakoli Ghosh Dostidar quoting Muhammad Ali or Cassius Clay, the boxing legend who'd said "catch me if you can" when comparing how far ahead TMC was than other parties in terms of women's representation. When Shashi Tharoor spoke on the issue, the day after the Bill was passed in the LS, there was some ruckus over his purported disrespect shown to women. Tharoor clarified that this was not the case, and a BJP leader humorously added that one can never accuse Tharoor of being "anti women".

Meanwhile, BJP chief J P Nadda while speaking in the Rajya Sabha thundered that if needed, they could have seat reservation in Wayanad, Amethi, and Kalaburagi in an obvious jibe at the Congress top brass even as he locked horns with his counterpart Mallikarjun Kharge. However, it was an AAP member who replied to this jibe saying that seat reservation can swing both ways and their coalition might also call for a reservation of the Varanasi seat, referring to PM Modi's constituency.

The session also saw parties clamouring to seek credit for the bill with the NDA government firmly crediting Modi for having brought it about, while Congress and others posited that the idea had been floated long before Modi came to power.

The discussion over Chandrayaan-3 also led to a political slugfest with the NDA members championing Modi's contribution to the space mission, and the opposition trying to credit Nehru's scientific spirit for the entire venture to have been possible.

However, with the Special Session coming to an end, there is greater clarity on matters like the census as well as the opposition's outreach plan ahead of the Lok Sabha elections.

Sonia Gandhi, who had led the debate on the women's quota bill, sounded the clarion call for a census, and it was echoed by many other members, before Amit Shah announced that the census would be conducted soon after the 2024 polls. The census is linked to the delimitation move the government plans to bring about - a step that would hurt several south Indian states that have effectively managed to control population, and runs the risk of reducing their representation at national level politics as well.

Tamil Nadu CM M K Stalin said as much, terming it a Damocles sword.

Rahul Gandhi, meanwhile, intervened in the women's quota bill in the Lok Sabha where he outlined his party's OBC outreach plan ahead of the polls, in a year where both the NDA and I.N.D.I.A alliance are focusing on OBC votes.

This Fall India and Canada see iciness creep into their relationship

Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his Canadian counterpart Justin Trudeau.

India's carefully curated international image has gone for something of a toss in light of the recent accusations levelled against the country by Canadian PM Justin Trudeau. He said that India was involved in the killing of Hardeep Singh Nijjar, a Khalistani separatist. India has rejected this, but in the ensuing days relations have only soured. Currently, India has suspended visa services for Canadians and asked them to downsize missions in the country.

Canada, for its part is going to 'temporarily' adjust staff presence in India amid online 'threats'. Both countries have expelled diplomats in tit-for-tat moves.

Other countries have gotten drawn into the tiff as well, but have tried remaining neutral. Australia, the US, and the UK all have good relations with both Canada and India, but Canada has reportedly taken US help in the probe into Nijjar's killing. Now, the US has urged India to cooperate with Canada's probe, while Australia has said that it is monitoring the situation. The UK, whose prime minister is of Indian origin, has asserted that the ongoing issue will not impact trade talks between India and the UK. The same can't be said for trade ties with Canada, which has been impacted by this situation.

A casualty of the diplomatic standoff has been Canadian-Punjabi rapper Shubh, whose shows in India stand cancelled, and has prompted the Still Rollin and Cheques singer to comment that "India is his country" too.

Bidhuri in soup for use of abusive language against Danish Ali

Four opposition leaders from Congress, NCP, TMC and DMK on Friday wrote to Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla over BJP MP Ramesh Bidhuri's use of abusive language against BSP member Danish Ali in the House. They want the matter be sent to the privileges committee.

Bidhuri made the objectionable remarks against Ali during a discussion in Lok Sabha on the success of the Chandrayaan-3 mission.

In separate letters to the Speaker, Congress leader Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury, Supriya Sule of the NCP, DMK leader Kanimozhi and TMC's Aparupa Poddar said action should be taken against Bidhuri.

Thunder down under - Telangana, Tamil Nadu, and Karnataka in focus

(Left to right) Karnataka CM Siddaramaiah, Tamil Nadu BJP chief Annamalai, TDP chief Chandrababu Naidu.

As Congress tries to replicate its success in Karnataka with poll promises in Telangana, Sonia Gandhi announced that she had a dream the party would come to power in the South Indian state. Rahul Gandhi too went to bat for the state saying the PM's remarks on Telangana's martyrs were an 'insult'.

In Andhra Pradesh, the Telugu Desam Party and Jana Sena have entered and alliance ahead of the polls, but TDP chief Chandrababu Naidu's mounting troubles with the CBI could see a void in the party leadership.

In Tamil Nadu, meanwhile, the AIADMK and BJP have reportedly fallen out with D Jayakumar saying Annamalai, the BJP chief in the state, does not want an alliance with the AIADMK. Annamalai, however, said there were no problems between the parties.

Karnataka has seen protests over the Cauvery water release issue which has mostly kept the government busy with meetings being held in Delhi and the matter taken up in the Supreme Court. Amid all this, CM Siddaramaiah firmly lobbed the ball into the Congress High Command's court, when it comes to three deputy CMs, saying he would abide by their decision.

The Janata Dal (Secular) on Friday joined the BJP-led NDA and forged an alliance with the saffron party ahead of the 2024 Lok Sabha polls to fight the Congress in Karnataka. The two parties are now expected to announce the seat sharing formula after Dussehra festival next month.

Takeaways from the Congress CWC meet in Hyderabad

The Congress CWC meet in Hyderabad saw the party take a stance against the proposed 'one nation. one election' policy terming it an assault on the Constitution and federalism.

Congress leader Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury drove the message home some time later during the Parliament session pointing out that the words 'socialist secular' were not in the copies of the Preamble given after India moved to the new Parliament building, marking a historic moment in its own right. It was later clarified to him that these were the original copies of the Preamble, from before the amendment, which is why the words were not present. However, Adhir's warning was loud and clear for those that believe the BJP is chipping away at the pillars of democracy through the many moves they are making while in power.

Meanwhile, the 'One Nation, One Election' panel will have its first meeting on September 23, but parties have already started their pushback against it, with AAP's Arvind Kejriwal saying in poll-bound Madhya Pradesh that the nation needs one common education system, not one election.

Elsewhere in India, there is a police complaint against Assam CM Himanta Biswa Sarma for apparent hate speech against Sonia Gandhi.

Down but not out: Kamal Haasan wants Coimbatore again

Makkal Needhi Maiam (MNM) chief Kamal Haasan has expressed his desire to contest the Lok Sabha elections from Coimbatore to his party men.

The actor had lost the Coimbatore (South) Assembly constituency by a narrow margin in 2021 but he is not giving up, Not yet. “When people come to watch my movie Vikram, why won’t they come and vote for me?” he said.

'Gifts' of the gab: Corruption charge steams up against Siddaramaiah's son Yathindra

Some skeletons are tumbling out of the closet in Karnataka. The Karnataka BJP has filed a complaint against Chief Minister Siddaramaiah's son Yathindra, alleging corruption in the Assembly elections.

In a letter to the Chief Election Commissioner of the Karnataka Election Commission, the BJP said Yathindra has made a statement that in Varuna Constituency from where the present Chief Minister is elected, thousands of cookers and and iron boxes were distributed and this helped his father to win from Varuna Constituency. Pressure is mounting indeed.

Little trip around the world

Pakistan announced that its general elections will be held in the last week of January 2024, while its anti-graft body has moved to reopen a case against ex-PM Nawaz Sharif.

As US preps for presidential elections too, Vivek Ramaswamy is quickly emerging a favourite with firebrand statements, the latest being a promise to gut the "lottery" H-1B visa and restore 'meritocratic' immigration.

Meanwhile, Nepal Prime Minister Prachanda is in China from September 23, on an 8-day visit, during which time he will meet Xi Jinping.

That's it for this week folks, but there will surely be more drama in the weeks to come as India nears Assembly elections in some states and the shadow of the LS polls looms ever larger. It also remains to be seen how the diplomatic standoff between India and Canada plays out on a global stage where the nation has under Modi's leadership forged lucrative relations with several countries.

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DH Newsletters Team