By Sushil Kutty
Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s statement that only a strong government made possible 33 percent women’s reservation has few takers. The reality is, but for the fact that the Bharatiya Janata Party and the RSS wanted another Modi term to fulfill the Sangh Parivar agenda, the Modi government may not have rolled out the ‘Naari Shakti Vandan Adhiniyam’ in such haste with a special session of Parliament to boot.
And because the BJP wanted another spell of Modi rule, the Prime Minister “made every attempt to unshackle women with schemes for their security and respect.” So, everybody important in the BJP and in the top echelons of the Modi government haven’t stopped praising the Prime Minister for his “dariya dilli”, his generosity in the face of relentless and decades old opposition to the Women’s Reservation Bill.
The morning after the Rajya Sabha passed the Bill by more than the required two-third majority, Prime Minister Narendra Modi was at the BJP’s New Delhi headquarters to meet BJP women MPs and supporters. The atmosphere was festive with the Prime Minister the cynosure of all eyes. Of course, nobody can beat politicians in the fine art of sycophancy. And the BJP MPs want to secure a “ticket” for the next Lok Sabha.
They had tasted blood in 2019 and 2024 is another opportunity. But the Women’s Quota Bill 2023 does not mean more women will get tickets. On the contrary, the party might restrict the number of women contestants as the mood will be to let the population census and the delimitation process be over. After all, what’s the god-awful hurry, it’s not that Prime Minister Narendra Modi won’t be around after 2024.
Question is, how many women will be given party tickets in 2024? With the “winnability criteria” locked into the process, men will still beat women to the ticket window. And then there are parties like the Samajwadi Party and Lalu Prasad Yadav’s Rashtriya Janata Dal – two political outfits which have a clear and simple policy on women’s reservation.
Does the Bill mean it is mandatory for every party to apportion 33 percent of the tickets to women? What then happens to Asaduddin Owaisi’s AIMIM which is so anti-Women reservation that it might even boycott elections to avoid honouring the commitments in the Bill? Owaisi is like a record stuck on a Muslim women quota within the 33 percent women’s quota. It is Owaisi’s definition of secularism.
Fact is, Asaduddin Owaisi’s nuisance value went notches up the minute after the Rajya Sabha passed the ‘Naari Shakti Vandan Adhiniyam’. AIMIM does not have a Rajya Sabha MP but there are two in the Lok Sabha and both of them voted against the Bill. The fact that there was no outrage would be remembered. Neither from Muslim men nor from Muslim women.
It is kind of eerie that even 75 years after Independence, Indian Muslim women haven’t a chance to independently secure their present and future. Will they be forever voting for men, their fates like the indelible ink used to mark the voting finger? The Constitution doesn’t really help them even if they have in them the urge and desire to improve their lot.
Earlier, they were a vote-bank of secular parties. Now, a chunk of them votes for the Bharatiya Janata Party because of Modi’s women-centred “labarthi” schemes. The Prime Minister is banking on ‘Naari Shakti Vandan Adhiniyam’ to draw Muslim women out of their homes in 2024 and vote for the BJP. At the end of the day, ‘Naari Shakti Vandan Adhiniyam’ is only a vote-catching ‘adhiniyam’ for all political parties.
And taking credit for ‘Naari Shakti Vandan Adhiniyam’ has become the single-most overriding business for MPs inside and outside Parliament. In the TV studios, where the INDIA alliance parties have returned via surrogates dressed up as political analysts of vague political relevance.
In Parliament, the fight for taking credit has reached fever-pitch levels with quarrels breaking out in both houses of Parliament. What if it was the regular long session and not this short special session, with MPs shouting at each other and calling each other names that would shame the foulest of mouths? Is politics doing things to people, or is it the other way round? It is odd seeing men fighting with each other to take credit for a Bill designed to put an end to male dominance.
Of course, history has been made with the passage of the Women’s Reservation Bill. Now, for the ‘Naari Shakti Vandan Adhiniyam’ to reach all states and fights to break out in each of those states. The ‘Naari Shakti Vandan Adhiniyam’ is the biggest exercise attempted so far to build up Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s women-friendly image, the shining example of promoting women empowerment, Rahul Gandhi’s favourite phrase and, some would say, pursuit. (IPA Service)
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