Uma Bharti's Stand on Women's Reservation Bill

Senior BJP leader Uma Bharti expressed disappointment with the bill that reserves 33 percent of seats for women in the Lok Sabha and state assemblies. She felt let down because the bill does not include a quota for women from the Other Backward Classes (OBCs).

In a letter to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Bharti urged that half of the seats in the women’s quota should be reserved for SC/STs and OBCs. Additionally, she advocated for extending this reservation to backward class women from the Muslim community.

The constitutional amendment bill was introduced in the Lok Sabha by the BJP-led Union government. It proposes to reserve seats for women for 15 years, including one-third of the quota within the seats reserved for SC/STs.

Bharti, a prominent OBC leader within the BJP, expressed her mixed feelings. While she was pleased with the introduction of the women’s reservation bill, she emphasized the importance of ensuring OBC women also benefit from it.

In her letter to Modi, Bharti stated, “The 33 percent reservation for women in the legislature is a special provision. It should be ensured that out of this 33 percent, 50 percent is reserved for women belonging to SC/ST and OBC communities.” She also pointed out that special reservation provisions already exist for backward class women in Panchayati Raj and local bodies.

Furthermore, Bharti requested that women from the backward classes within the Muslim community, as identified by the Mandal Commission, should be included in this reservation.

Re-reported from the article originally published in Deccan Herald