Narendra Modi's plan to move, pass 10 percent quota bill in two days had right optics to silence its critics

The determination and grit by which the Narendra Modi government displayed Tuesday and Wednesday in both Houses of the Parliament in introducing the 124th Constitutional (Amendment) Bill, 2019, offering 10 percent reservation for economically weaker sections of all communities, in less than 24 hours after Union Cabinet approving it, has helped ruling BJP silence its political rivals and other critics who in their first reaction called the move a ‘chunavi jumla’.

It’s unprecedented in the history of Independent India that a 10Bill, that too a constitutional amendment bill which required the approval of two-third members present and voting in the House — and not less than a simple majority of that house — be cleared by the Cabinet, tabled in both houses of the Parliament, debated, discussed, voted and passed.

The Modi government has achieved that feat with the passage of 124th Constitutional (Amendment) Bill, creating enabling provisions to provide 10 percent quota to applicants from young men and women from General category (upper castes Hindus, as also Muslims, Christians, Sikh, Jain, Buddhist and other communities who otherwise don’t fall under purview of existing reservation policy), in three days.

The speed with which the Modi government pushed the Bill shall ever be referred by students of politics and political science. Prime Minister Narendra Modi convened a short meeting of the Cabinet on Monday at 1 pm in the Parliament House. The Cabinet otherwise meets on Wednesdays either at the Prime Minister’s Office at South Block or at his residence, 7 Lok Kalyan Marg. Some ministers had to re-schedule their engagements for the day. Nitin Gadkari, for instance, had an important ministerial engagement that afternoon which was shifted to the evening.

Sources said that since it was called at a relatively short notice, agenda papers could also not be circulated but that helped in keeping secrecy around the decision because agenda papers go through a whole lot of officials and ministers and the chances of an information as important as this getting leaked (out of enthusiasm) was always there. Modi briefed the Cabinet of the agenda. It surprised almost everyone present in that room. The bigger surprise came when they were told that the Bill had to be moved in the Lok Sabha on Tuesday for discussion and passage. It meant that the Bill in its final form has already been kept ready, without anyone getting wind of it.

Next, it got the prescribed standards norms waived off by convincing the Speaker of Lok Sabha and Chairman of Rajya Sabha of their point and use their special powers to waive provisions. Originally, a Bill requires minimum time gap for allocation of time in Business Advisory Committee of each House of the Parliament, mentioning it in day’s business, and tabling the bill, and two days time is given to the members of the Parliament to study it before a discussion on the subject begins. There is also a provision of sending a bill to select or standing committee.

It was also out of ordinary situation that the Rajya Sabha sitting was extended by one day and the 124th Constitution Amendment Bill was presented the very next day after its passage in Lok Sabha. There are mandatory procedures to follow in the movement of a bill after its passed in one house and be placed for introduction and passage in other House.

It should be noted that the Lok Sabha passed Constitutional Amendment Bill — inserting the provision to offer reservation to economically weaker sections in the Constitution — was passed with 303 in favour and 03 against it, at 10 pm on Tuesday, and the House was “adjourned sine die” by Speaker Sumitra Mahajan.

The government also braved several hurdles posed by members in Opposition benches. Though almost all opposition parties barring few supported the bill during the voting stage, they raised technical points, during the introduction and discussion stage, which could have derailed passage of the bill if the government was not determined as they were on Tuesday and Wednesday. It is well known that the BJP or the NDA does not have required numbers in the Rajya Sabha to get a constitutional amendment bill passed but it was a bill which no party including the Congress could have opposed.

Intervening in the debate in the Lok Sabha, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley said those who called it a “jumla” had this “jumla” placed in their manifestos on several occasions.

The optics of the presentation of the Bill — Prime Minister Narendra Modi (belonging to Other Backward Castes) being initiator and author of the move giving reservation to economically weak upper castes and Thawar Chand Gehlot (a Dalit) as Social Justice and Empowerment Minister tabling the Bill in both Houses of Parliament and moving it for passage — makes a statement too.