Jaipur, April 15 (IANS). Senior Congress leader and former Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot on Wednesday raised questions on the attitude of the Central Government regarding its proposed women’s reservation law. He expressed concern about both the timing and process of introducing this bill.
Gehlot reiterated that the Congress party has always supported women’s reservation.
He said that the Congress Party has always supported women’s reservation. Taking the initiative for women’s reservation, Sonia Gandhi ensured that the Women’s Reservation Bill was passed in the Rajya Sabha during the tenure of the UAPA government.
However, he expressed concern over the haste with which the NDA government is preparing to introduce the 131st Constitutional Amendment Bill in the name of reservation for women.
Questioning this haste, Gehlot asked whether taking such an important step amid elections is not a violation of the code of conduct? Gehlot asked, after all, what is the emergency situation that such haste is being done right in the middle of the elections? Is this not a clear violation of the code of conduct?
He further said that when the work of new census is going on, delimitation based on old data of 2011 would be injustice to both democracy and new voters.
According to him, such a move risks creating an unnecessary gap between the northern and southern states. The Congress leader also criticized the central government for not calling an all-party meeting on this issue.
He said that holding separate consultations with opposition parties instead of holding collective talks weakens the spirit of cooperative federalism. He termed it inappropriate to take such an important decision without taking into confidence all the concerned parties, including the states.
Gehlot alleged that taking unilateral decisions and ignoring the voices of the opposition has become a trend under the current government.
–IANS
ms/
