Responding to Congress president Rahul Gandhi asking Prime Minister Narendra Modi to ensure the passage of the long-pending Women’s Reservation Bill, the government on Tuesday proposed that two main parties the BJP and the Congress should come together to offer a ‘new deal’ to Indian women that also includes support to triple talaq legislation and also a law prohibiting nikah halala.
In a letter to Gandhi, Union Law Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad, while welcoming his initiative to support the Women’s Reservation Bill asked whether all allies of Congress will also be supporting the Bill and will not disrupt the House as they have done on earlier occasions. He also wanted to know why Congress-led United Progressive Alliance government had allowed the Bill to lapse when it was in power. The Rajya Sabha passed the bill in 2010, but it did not get through the Lower House.
As Gandhi’s move was seen to divert attention towards the alleged remarks that his party was a party for Muslims, the move to raise women reservation issue was seen to divert attention from the controversy. But on Tuesday, Prasad attempted to turn tables again, by seeking his party’s support to criminalising the practices.
