Parliament LIVE updates: Rajya Sabha passes 10% quota bill; major win for Modi govt ahead of 2019 LS polls

Rajya Sabha passes general category reservation bill  

Bill to not be sent to select committee

Kanmiozhi’s motion seeking the reservation bill to be sent to a parliamentary select committee was rejected.

And by 155 votes, Kanimozhi's notice to send Bill to Select Committee is negated pic.twitter.com/hbHYCA9t4B

— Maadhyam (@maadhyam_engage) January 9, 2019

Kanimozhi asks for Bill to be sent to select committee; lobbies being cleared for voting

Kanimozhi argues that Bill has gone through enough scrutiny thus it should be sent to the select committee first before being presented in the Parliament. Now, lobbies are being cleared for a division on Kanimozhi’s notice to send Bill to Select Committee.

Thawar Chand Gehlot rises to register his reply, Opposition protests as many didn’t get chance to speak

Minister of social justice and empowerment Thawar Chand Gehlot in his reply said, “A lot of members are opposing the bill, saying it is not practical enough to be implemented. However, the proposal of quota for the poorer section was mentioned in every party’s manifesto. I want to ask, how they would have implemented it?”

Amar Singh attacks other Opposition parties, says ‘why are you voting in favour of the Bill if you find it so absurd’

“I want to ask those opposing the Bill, why are they voting for it?" Amar Singh asked in Rajya Sabha. “If the government would have brought the bill three months back, the Opposition would have said it’s a ploy before the state assembly elections. However, when the government is bringing it now, they are saying that it is for the upcoming Lok Sabha polls,” Singh said.

KC(M) supports Bill but questions its timing; GVL Narasimha Rao says Narendra Modi is ‘real mahapurush’

KC(M) leader from Kerala Jose K Mani supports the Bill but questions the timing of its introduction. I hope it doesn’t turn out to be a gimmick like demonetisation,” he said. 

Meanwhile, BJP’s GVL Narasimha Rao says that poor people can see a real “mahapurush”, a “real mahatma” in Prime Minister Narendra Modi. “The numbers don’t lie, he said amid requests to conclude from the deputy chairman. “The Prime Minister and the BJP government did justice to the poor section of the society in real sense,” he said.

MoS Social Justice and Empowerment Ramdas Athwale strongly supports Bill, praises BJP

Union Minister Ramdas Athwale began his speech in his usual poetic way. He said: “The BJP is for the Dalits, for all communities, for every religion, every caste, everyone."

This Bill is killing the spirit of the Constitution: IUML’s Abdul wahab

“This is a draconian bill which is killing the spirit of the Constitution. This bill wouldn’t have been passed in any house if was tabled in the current form earlier,” IUML’s Abdul Wahab said.

TDP says Bill won’t benefit anyone, terms it a ‘political gimmick’

“This bill is not going to benefit anyone. This bill is nothing but a political gimmick, which has been brought at the fag end of the session keeping elections in mind,” said TDP’s Kanakamedala Ravindra Kumar.

Sanjay Singh’s sharp rebuttal to Centre, says RSS trying to end reservation

The MP attacked the BJP and the RSS on the 10 percent reservation to economically backward upper castes during the debate on the constitutional amendment bill in the Rajya Sabha. 

Sanjay Singh, AAP in Rajya Sabha on #QuotaBill: This is a historic moment, if this bill is passed today, then in the coming days, RSS, which couldn’t make a single Dalit their chief in 90 years, will end the reservation for Dalits and backwards. pic.twitter.com/kXDntgoKyW

— ANI (@ANI) January 9, 2019

Rakesh Sinha tells Opposition: Don’t obstruct the Bill just like you halted the Ram Mandir issue

Nominated member of the Rajya Sabha said people should remember how long did this House sit in 1976 to discuss an amendment to the words ‘socialist’ and ‘secular’ in the Preamble, adding that the Congress should apologise for it.

AAP’s Sanjay Singh attacks BJP, says ‘RSS never had any backward class leader’

Sanjay Singh alleged that the directives for the Bill came from RSS headquarters in Nagpur and that RSS is anti-backwards as they have never had a Dalit chief. “The bill has been brought to end quota for dalits and other backward. This is the actual agenda of this government,” Singh said.

PL Punia says BJP took idea of general category reservation from Congress’ manifesto 

Congress’ PL Punia said that BJP has taken inspiration from Congress’ manifesto promise. Pointing to Kumari Selja’s argument about meritorious SC candidates being pushed into the reserved category, Punia raised pertinent questions about the government’s intention behind bringing the Bill.

Meanwhile, the Deputy Chairman requests members to conclude speech in three minutes as voting is to also take place at around 9:15 pm.

CPI says Bill should be a matter of concern for all Indians

D Raja of CPI said, “The way this Bill is brought must concern every citizen of the country. The attitude of the govt is to undermine the Constitution and Parliament.” Reservation based on income is against the legislative intent of the Constituent Assembly, he said.

“You back all corporate houses and I’m asking you, do you have the courage to bring in reservation in the private sector,” he asked demanding for the Bill to be sent to a parliamentary select committee.

BJP MP says govt can bring a Bill anytime during its five-year tenure

BJP’s Ajay Pratap Singh termed the Bill as a timely decision, saying that the timing of its introduction shouldn’t be questioned as the government is for five years and any measure can be brought in at any point of time in the five years.

Congress’ Kumari Selja says, ‘It is part RSS’ nefarious agenda to end reservation’

Kumari Selja of Congress asked the Centre about quota in government job promotions. She also raised the issue of women’s reservation adding that the current Bill is nothing but the ‘RSS’s agenda’ to eventually dilute the constitutional provision of reservation. “The hasty Amendment is part of a nefarious agenda of the RSS to finish off reservation,” she said.

Praful Patel calls Bill ‘hasty’

NCP leader Praful Patel terms the Bill hasty, says Rs 8 lakh might not be a big amount for city people but means a lot for the villagers.

BSP supports Bill but questions govt’s intentions, demands reservation for minorities

BSP’s Satish Chandra Misra said that he supports the Bill, but he said that there is a provision that lets the states decide, and then the government steps in to decide how to frame the bill etc. but here even the ministers came to know about the Bill only in the Cabinet. “You should bring in reservation for minorities too," he asked. ​

TDP supports the Bill, Ram Vilas Paswan interrupted by Opposition

TDP MP CM Ramesh said that his party supports the Bill. After him, Union Minister Ram Vilas Paswan took over the debate and while supporting the Bill demanded that there is a provision made for reservation in the private sector as well. 

Paswan said that the Bill is for people earning from Rs 8 to Rs 8 lakh adding that it is a step in the government’s ‘sabka saath_,_ sabka vikas’ plan. He was repeatedly interrupted by the opposition leaders including being asked to apologise for not addressing BSP chief Mayawati properly.

SAD supports Bill but says job creation still required

Naresh Gujral of the SAD said that all those who are disadvantaged should be treated fairly adding that: “This bill opens debate for religious minorities like Christians, Muslims and also Sikh community." He, however, pointed ou that the government still needs to take more steps to incentivise various manufacturing industries, to create more jobs.

TMC seeks explanation on the Bill

TMC’s Sukhendu Sekhar Ray said, “Nowhere in the constitution, the economically weaker section are defined. Now, for the bill, a new definition has been coined. I want an explanation for this,” said Ray seeking explanation on the Bill.

Kapil Sibal questions constitutionality of Bill, Smriti Irani retaliates, ‘declare that don’t support reservation for poor’

Sibal then questioned the constitutionality of the law. “If a 9-judge bench has ruled against 10% reservation for the economically backward people, how can this pass the judicial hurdle?” he asked. Here, Union Minister Smriti Irani interrupted him to ask, “So you are not supporting reservation for economically backward people? Why don’t you declare?”

Kapil Sibal says not all those who belong to  backward classes are covered under reservation

Kapil Sibal said that since jobs are limited, not everybody from the OBCs and Dalits get benefit under the 27% reservation sanctioned from them. He attacked the government saying that like its note ban, the 10% quota bill is flawed.

Bill excludes backward class poor: Kapil Sibal

“We support the bill, but saddened by the way it has been brought. It’s a very important bill, so it should have been sent to a select committee,” Congress’ Kapil Sibal said. He asked three questions on the Bill: “Is the survey done properly? How was the data collected? And how will it be implemented ?” He also said that the quota bill excludes the poor from social backward classes. “The bill has excluded people who don’t get jobs under OBC or Dalit quota,” he said.

His remarks draw sharp reactions and opposition from the BJP MPs including Amit Shah who interrupted to ask him if he is suggesting that well-earning backward class people shouldn’t get the benefits of reservation.

This is not the only sixer from the govt, more are in the pipeline: Ravi Shankar Prasad

Ravi Shankar Prasad while replying to the Opposition’s criticism on bringing the bill so late said that “maybe we are late but we at least dared to bring this bill”.

There are poor people in the general category as well: Ravi Shankar Prasad

The Union Law Minister said, “There are people from the Brahmin and Rajput communities who are poor as well. Are we not supposed to think about them.”

This Bill won’t affect the backward classes’ quota: Ravi Shankar Prasad

Ravi Shankar Prasad defends Bill, says 50 percent limit is not in the Constitution. “In the Indira Sawhney judgment, SC stated that 50 percent ceiling applies to reservation for the socially and educationally backward classes, however, EWS will not be affected with this Bill. “We have studied the NSSO data,… the backward classes’ reservation won’t be done away due to this Bill,” he said.

Kanimozhi asks Centre what is it doing for Muslims, says economic status can’t be criteria for reservation

Kanimozhi asked that what is the government doing to empower Muslim women? “In Tamil Nadu, DMK, brought 3.5% reservation for Muslims, whyis Centre not doing so?” she asked. She also said that economic status shouldn’t be the criteria for reservation. “When you are an OBC, Dalit, you will still face discrimination. You may not be economically weak, but your caste will never leave you,” Kanimozhi said amid interruptions from the deputy chairman of the Rajya Sabha to end her speech within the stipulated time.

Govt is trying to make right wrong: Kanimozhi

DMK MP Kanimozhi started her address by saying that through this quota bill the government is trying to “make right wrong”. “The government thinks that they can’t decide everything unilaterally and force it upon people of this country,” she said attacking the BJP government for bringing the Bill overnight.

Shiv Sena supports Bill but hopes it doesn’t remain only on paper

Supporting the Bill, Shiv Sena leader Anil Desai said there should be a mechanism to check the implementation of the Bill and eligibility criteria of the people covered under it. “We welcome this historic bill. But, the machinery to decide who will get the benefits needs to be strengthened,” Desai said. He also said that it shouldn’t be that the bill remains just on paper. “Government should address the doubts about the bill,” he said.

Nominated member Dr Narendra Jadhav supports reservation bill

“Economic criteria must only be in addition to social criteria on the basis of caste which is a social reality in India. Reservation is needed becathe use of innate inability of our system to be just and fair,” Jadhav said in Rajya Sabha while speaking in support of the Bill. “This constituent amendment bill is a giant step towards bringing in economic democracy,” he said.

RJD’s Manoj Jha opposes Bill, targets BJP for ’electoral farce’

Manoj Jha, claiming to put forth his maiden speech in the Rajya Sabha, said that reservation is not a poverty alleviation program like MNREGA. He strongly opposed the Bill saying that it is “anti-Dalit and anti-poor”. He said that the Bill is not constitutionally tenable.

Timing of quota bill expresses BJP’s desperation: CPM MP

“The timing of this Bill expresses the desperation of BJP to muster support electorally,” CPM MP Elamaram Kareem said in Rajya Sabha.

“More than one crore jobs have been lost due to demonetisation,” he said. “The government of Kerala, from 1957, made land reforms, developed public education and distribution system, empowered women and strengthened people’s participation in administration,” he added.

This kinf of Bill should have been referred to select committee: TDP MP in Rajya Sabha

“Compromising on parliamentary procedures is very sad,” TDP MP YS Chowdary said in Rajya Sabha.

“Chandrababu Naidu said that this kind of Bill should have been referred to a select committee,” said the TDP MP.

JD(U) supports quota bill

“JD(U) supports this Bill and welcomes it,” said Ram Chandra Prasad Singh, JD(U) MP, in Rajya Sabha.

“This Bill has strength. Even if it has been delayed, at least this Bill is now here,” Singh said.

This Bill may not stand the scrutiny of the law: BJD MP

“I thank the government for bringing this bill into the Parliament, even though it was brought a bit late,” Prasanna Acharya, BJD MP, said in Rajya Sabha.

“I remember Ambedkar now. Reservation is a theory made before Independence,” Acharya said. “When the Constituent Assembly was made, there was reservation there too,” he added.

“Is this House competent to bring such a Bill? It may not stand the scrutiny of the law,” Acharya said.

PM had earlier said that reservations won’t be required if there are enough jobs: Derek O’Brien

“I am missing someone. We are all missing someone: our prime minister,” said TMC MP Derek O’Brien in Rajya Sabha.

“The prime minister, who was Gujarat chief minister back in 2013, was asked his opinion on caste-based reservations. He had said, ‘If there are jobs for all, what is the need for reservations?’” O’Brien said.

Demonetisation largest man-made disaster ever: Derek O’Brien

“Promise of doubling farmers’ income by 2022 comes under Cheat India,” said TMC MP Derek O’Brien. “We have tripled farmers’ income in West Bengal,” he added.

“If you look at the history of the last 100 years, demonetisation may be the largest man-made disaster ever,” O’Brien said.

TMC is disgusted and angry: Derek O’Brien

“The law-making process in India has changed. There is the right method which respects the Parliament. The ministry proposes a Bill, the Bill is proposed to the cabinet. Stakeholders participate in the idea,” TMC MP Derek O’Brien said in Rajya Sabha.

“Tht Trinamool Congress is disgusted and angry. The Parliament has been disrespected,” O’Brien said. “What are you (the government) doing to this institution of the Parliament? You are insulting it,” he added.

“The youth of this country are askind: Where are the jobs?” he said.