Veteran Congress leader Sonia Gandhi on Wednesday said that her party supports the Women’s Reservation Bill but demanded a reservation for Scheduled Castes, Scheduled Tribes and Other Backward Classes within the 33% quota.
“A caste census must also be conducted and a provision must be made for reservation for women from the SC, ST and OBC communities. The government should take all the steps needed for this. Delaying this would be doing gross injustice to women,” Gandhi said.
Earlier, All India Majlis-E-Ittehadul Muslimeen (AIMIM) president Asaduddin Owaisi said that his party would oppose the Women’s Reservation Bill introduced by the Union government in the Parliament due to its lack of provisions for a sub-quota for Other Backward Classes (OBC) women and Muslim women.
Former Congress chief also demanded immediate implementation of the Bill. The law may come into force only by 2029.
Gandhi also said that speaking on the Bill was an emotional moment for her as her husband Rajiv Gandhi was the first to introduce a bill on reservation for women in local bodies.
