How women's reservation will benefit BJP in five poll-bound states

How women's reservation will benefit BJP in five poll-bound states

Ritu Rathi October 19, 2023, 16:04:02 IST

Women from poll-bound Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Rajasthan, Telangana, and Mizoram will appreciate PM Narendra Modi for this historic move, ensuring their greater political participation in the future

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How women's reservation will benefit BJP in five poll-bound states

In a historic move reaffirming Bharat’s faith in women’s leadership, Prime Minister Modi’s government has introduced the pioneering Women’s Reservation Bill in Parliament. This revolutionary legislation mandates reserving 33 per cent seats in the Lok Sabha and state assemblies for women, opening the doors for transformative gender balance in India’s top legislative bodies.

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Once implemented, the number of women MPs will rise exponentially from the current 82 to 181, significantly enhancing their perspective in national decision-making. The bill also reserves a third of Delhi Assembly seats for women, allowing for greater representation in the capital’s governance.

In a smooth transition, the bill retains existing seat sharing arrangements between parties while effecting this major restructuring. Further, reservation will be implemented in a phased manner for 15 years through a planned rotation system, promoting diverse representation of women leaders from all backgrounds across Bharat’s regions.

The government has astutely decided that this monumental reform will only apply from 2027 elections onwards. This allows the Election Commission sufficient time to seamlessly undertake the mammoth exercise of delimitation of constituencies and designate reserved seats as per the 2026 census.

The Women’s Reservation Bill’s passage in the Lok Sabha with 454 votes in favour and just two against demonstrates the Modi government’s success in mobilising unprecedented consensus for women’s empowerment across party lines. Leading women politicians have hailed it as historic, with PM Narendra Modi noting that it honours Indian women’s wisdom and capabilities eulogised in scriptures.

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Bharat has a rich heritage of revering the divine feminine or Shakti and female deities as embodiments of valour, knowledge, prosperity, righteousness and nurture. Scriptural texts extol goddesses like Durga, Lakshmi and Saraswati and rituals like Sumangali pooja revere feminine divinity.

Our ancient scriptures have always emphasised the divine power of women. The Devi Purana glorifies the Devi or divine feminine energy as the all-powerful creatrix and moral exemplar for society. Verses in the Markandeya Purana (61.5) state that all women are manifestations of the Devi herself.

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The Manusmriti (3.57) mandates worshipping and respecting women, saying where women are honoured, divinity resides but where they are disrespected, all good deeds become fruitless. Daily rituals like Devi pooja and Kanya Puja during Navratri worship the feminine aspects of divinity.

Historically, Bharat boasts of illustrious women rulers like Ahilya Bai Holkar and Rani Lakshmibai who steered their domains towards stability and growth. Their legacies prove women’s ability to shoulder immense state responsibilities.

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It is against this backdrop that PM Modi’s Women’s Reservation Act marks a continuation of Bharat’s regard for feminine wisdom and power in governance. By enabling women’s ascent in political leadership across party lines, this will activate the immense potential of Bharat’s Nari Shakti in guiding national progress.

The 7.8 crore women of the five poll-bound states—Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Rajasthan, Telangana, and Mizoram—will appreciate PM Modi for this historic move, ensuring their greater political participation in the future.

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When women are guaranteed participation in decision-making bodies in such substantial numbers, it significantly advances a democracy’s ethos of dignity and voice for all citizens. This historic legislation will stand out as one of PM Modi’s lasting legacies that will reposition Bharat’s women from homemakers to nation-builders.

The writer is the founder of an NGO, Ek Soch, and the VP of the women wing of BJP Surat city. Views expressed in the above piece are personal and solely that of the author. They do not necessarily reflect Firstpost_’s views._

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