POLITICS
‘Come over for coffee’ — how PM Gowda’s call to law minister led to 1996 women’s reservation bill
- Admin
- Sep 22, 2023
‘Come over for coffee’ — how PM Gowda’s call to law minister led to 1996 women’s reservation bill
Law minister in Gowda cabinet, Ramakant Khalap says Modi govt should enact 33% quota for women in Lok Sabha & state assemblies 'immediately', adds 'delimitation can be done later'.
For Ramakant Khalap, that morning in 1996 was like any other, until it wasn’t. Khalap, who was then the Union minister for law and justice, received a call on his RAX (secure) line. On the other side was prime minister H.D. Deve Gowda. “Come over for coffee,” he told Khalap.
In the meeting that followed, Gowda — who assumed office as prime minister in June that year — directed Khalap to ‘bring the women’s reservation bill at the earliest’.
“Now, history has given this opportunity to Narendra Modi to pass this historic bill,” he said, referring to the of the women’s reservation bill — Constitution (128th) Amendment Bill, 2023 — in the Lok Sabha Wednesday, with 454 MPs voting in favour, and two against.
Khalap, however, added that the government should enact 33 percent reservation for women in the Lok Sabha and state assemblies, as proposed in the Nari Shakti Vandan Adhiniyam, without further delay.
Asked how he sees the delimitation rider in the women’s reservation bill passed in the Lok Sabha Wednesday, Khalap said the bill “won’t fulfil the aspirations of women if not enacted immediately”.
“Why make delimitation a precondition? If it is not enacted by 2024, women waiting for their turn will have to wait longer. The government should enact it immediately if it is serious about empowering women. Delimitation can be done even after it is enacted,” he said.
He went on to describe the circumstances that prevented the Gowda government from ensuring the passage of the bill in the Lok Sabha in 1996 and how he became a minister in that administration despite being his party’s only MP in the Lower House. Khalap (77), who served as deputy chief minister of Goa in 1990, has been with the Maharashtrawadi Gomantak Party (MGP), Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and the Congress.
