NEW DELHI: A sharp exchange took place in the Lok Sabha on Thursday over the Samajwadi Party’s demand to extend reservation for Muslim and OBC women under the women’s reservation framework, with Home Minister Amit Shah firmly rejecting the proposal as unconstitutional.
The confrontation began as SP MP Dharmendra Yadav opposed the introduction of the Constitution (131st Amendment) Bill and related legislation aimed at implementing 33 percent reservation for women after delimitation.
“In the name of the Women’s Bill, the government wants to do across India what it did in Kashmir and Assam (through delimitation). The entire Opposition will oppose it. If there is no quota for OBC women and Muslim women, the SP will not support it. We want the Bill to be withdrawn,” he said.
Yadav argued the draft laws were “destroying and dismantling” the Constitution and said linking delimitation with women’s quota violated its spirit.
During the debate, SP chief Akhilesh Yadav also questioned the BJP’s record on women’s representation and called for quotas for OBCs and Muslim women. He pushed for a caste census before implementing reservations. “The NDA is in power in 21 states, but how many of them have women CMs? Those who have not given space to women in their own organisation, how will they give them respect,” he asked.
Responding to the demand for a Muslim quota, Shah said: “The government has already taken the decision to conduct a caste census. They say there is no caste column. Right now, houses are being counted. Houses don’t have caste. If the SP has its way, even houses will have caste. When citizens are counted, the caste column will be there. This is my ministry. I want to assure the House that the census will include caste.”
He categorically ruled out religion-based reservations and said, “This government will not give reservations to women on the basis of religion. It is against the Constitution, and the question of such reservation does not arise.”