Women's Reservation Bill 2023 Passed In Lok Sabha With 454 Votes In Favour

The Women's Reservation Bill [The Constitution (128th Amendment Bill)] 2023 was passed by Lok Sabha on Wednesday (20 September) with 454 votes in its favour and two votes opposing it.

The bill was tabled by Union Law Minister Arjun Ram Meghwal yesterday on the first day of House proceedings in the new Parliament House. It was followed by a day-long discussion today.

The discussion involved almost all political parties supporting the bill while trying to claim credit for it. Some parties also asked for immediate implementation of the bill, while others demanded a reservation for OBCs and minorities as well.

The doubts raised during the discussion were answered by Union Ministers Amit Shah and Arjun Ram Meghwal in their concluding remarks.

Shah explained that the bill cannot be implemented immediately because delimitation is a quasi-judicial process and which seats will be reserved for women, needs to be decided by the delimitation commission using a transparent process.

The Bill seeks to reserve one-third of the total number of seats in Lok Sabha and state legislative assemblies for women and was passed in a fifth attempt after previous four unsuccessful attempts.