Lok Sabha passes Women's Reservation Bill by 454 votes to 2

The historic Nari Shakti Vandan Adhiniyam or Women's Reservation Bill was passed by the Lok Sabha on Wednesday after the culmination of a day-long discussion, by an overwhelming 454 votes, with two members voting against it.

The 128th Constitutional Amendment Bill stipulates that “as nearly as maybe, one-third (including the seats reserved for women belonging to the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes) of the total number of seats to be filled by direct election to the House of People shall be reserved for women”.

Several MPs namely Asaduddin Owaisi, Hibi Eden, NK Premachandran, Sougata Ray, AM Ariff and ET Mohammed Bashir had moved amendments but did not pursue them.

Earlier, MPs beginning with Sonia Gandhi, and including Rahul Gandhi, Smriti Irani, Mahua Moitra and many others participated in the discussion on the bill.