A day after the Narendra Modi-led Union Government tabled the Women’s Reservation Bill in the Parliament, Tamil Nadu Chief Minister MK Stalin said that the DMK welcomes the bill.  Stalin also urged the Union government to consider the demand for reservation of women from Backward Classes (BC) and Most Backward Classes (MBC). However, the Tamil Nadu CM raised questions over the timing of presenting the bill and the delimitation exercise that the BJP government is set to undertake before bringing the bill into effect.

Referring to article 334A which says that the reservation for women will only come into effect after an exercise of delimitation is undertaken, he said that the pending decadal census has no guarantee of being held soon, thereby increasing the uncertainty of when the women’s reservation bill will come into effect, he said. He also highlighted that the exercise might reduce the political representation from the South and referred to delimitation as “a knife hanging over Tamil Nadu and South India.” 

“The unjust attempt to deceive politically conscious Tamil Nadu should be nipped in the bud,” Stalin said, asking for an assurance from PM Narendra Modi to this effect. 

While talking about the time at which the bill has been tabled, MK Stalin said, “Despite having a majority in the Lok Sabha, the BJP has remained blind to this bill over the past nine years. Now, with the elections approaching, the fear of defeat is gnawing at the BJP.” 

“On March 8, 2016 (women’s day) in both the Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha, female MPs from all parties raised their voices for the reservation bill but the BJP government remained mum. Doesn’t the timing of tabling the bill show that it has not been brought with any real concern for women’s representation?” he asked. 

Stalin also highlighted that the bill which has been pending for 27 years has had the complete support of the DMK since it was tabled for the first time in 1996. He said that BJP leaders including former CM of Madhya Pradesh Uma Bharti and Uttar Pradesh’s CM Yogi Adityanath were among those who opposed the bill strongly in the past and accused the BJP of playing a political game. 

It is to be noted that the Constitution’s (128th Amendment) Bill 2023 seeks to provide one-third (33%) of the total seats in the Lok Sabha, state Assemblies, and in the Legislative Assembly of the National Capital Territory of Delhi. This will also include a one-third sub-reservation for women among the seats reserved for Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes.