“The bill in discussion is not a jumla”, Union Finance Minister hits back at the Opposition

Talking about the Women’s Reservation Bill, Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitaraman hit back at the Opposition for calling the bill a ‘poll jumla’ and explained the salient features of the bill on Thursday. The Union Minister elucidated and laid out all women-centric reforms undertaken by the BJP government answering why it took the ruling government 9 years to table the bill. The Finance Minister said that, unlike the other parties, the BJP government does not look for political gains in matters relating to women empowerment.

“The bill in discussion is not a jumla. I think the context in which the home minister had said before is well understood, but it is not convenient for us to use jumla again…We forget the context….Once the census is over and delimitation is done, you are going to have women's reservation.,” said Nirmala Sitaraman stating that this bill sure is not a sham or ‘jumla’ for the ruling party and outlined a tentative timeline for the implementation of the bill.

Congress had previously said, “The women's reservation bill is a 'poll jumla' as the Modi government is yet to conduct the 2021 Census and has said that it will come into effect only after that. It is a huge betrayal of hopes of crores of Indian women and girls.” Various Opposition leaders reflected similar opinions in the debate centering on the Women’s Reservation Bill.

Hitting back at the Congress and the Opposition at large, Nirmala Sitaraman said, “In women-related matters, we do not play any politics. It is an article of faith for the Prime Minister and therefore we do everything that we have done whether it is Article 370, triple talaq, or now the Women's Reservation Bill.”

‘Nari Shakti Vandan Adhiniyam’ or the Women’s Reservation Bill was passed in the Lok Sabha on Wednesday, taking it a step closer to being law with 454 votes in favor of it, and 2 against it. The bill seeks to reserve 33% of Lok Sabha and state legislative assembly seats for women.