New Delhi [India], September 19 : Former Prime Minister HD Deve Gowda congratulated Prime Minister Narendra Modi on the Women's Reservation Bill tabled in the Lok Sabha on Tuesday saying that he has taken a decision which was pending since 1996.
"I want to congratulate the Prime Minister. He has taken the decision yesterday in the cabinet which was pending since 1996 when the UF (United Front) government led by me took the Women's Reservation Bill in 1996," the former Prime Minister said speaking to ANI.
The Women’s Reservation Bill was first introduced in the Lok Sabha as the 81st Amendment Bill by then Prime Minister HD Deve Gowda-led United Front government on September 12, 1996. However, the Bill failed to get passed by the lower house as the Lok Sabha was dissolved.
Earlier in the day, Congress' parliamentary party chief Sonia Gandhi said that the women's reservation bill "is ours", as the bill was about to be tabled in Parliament.
The Narendra Modi government introduced the new Women's Reservation Bill in the Lok Sabha of the new Parliament building here on Tuesday.
Union Law Minister Arjun Ram Meghwal introduced the Bill in the first sitting of Lok Sabha in the new Parliament building. Arjun Ram Meghwal said that once the Nari Shakti Vandan Adhiniyam is passed, the number of seats for women in Lok Sabha will increase to 181.
Discussion for passing of the Bill in the House will be taken up tomorrow, September 20. The Bill will be taken up in Rajya Sabha on September 21 government sources said.
Earlier in his address in the Lok Sabha in the new Parliament building, PM Modi said that the 'Nari Shakti Vandan Adhiniyam' will ensure more women become members of Parliament and the state legislative assemblies.
The Women Reservation Bill that seeks to guarantee 33 per quota for women in Lok Sabha and state assemblies was introduced as the 128th Constitutional Amendment Bill by the Union Law Minister.
This was the first agenda of the day taken up by the Lower House in the new Parliament building. The five-day special session of the Parliament began on Monday.