Women's Reservation Bill: Sonia Gandhi Contradicts UPA Government's 2010 Stance, Advocates For OBC Inclusion

Sonia Gandhi, the chairperson of the Congress Parliamentary Party, called for including reservations for OBCs (Other Backward Classes) in the women's reservation bill during its discussion in the Lok Sabha.

However, the United Progressive Alliance (UPA) government, which had previously passed the bill in the Rajya Sabha in March 2010, had a different viewpoint.

During the discussion on the bill on 9 March 2010, prior to its passage in the Rajya Sabha, the then law minister M Veerappa Moily responded by stating, "I would like to clarify about reservation for OBCs, minorities and the rest. As you all know, as of today, we only have reservations for Scheduled Castes/Scheduled Tribes. We lack nationwide data since no national Census for castes has been conducted since 1931."

He further emphasised that the classification of a backward class in one state may not hold true for another state. To truly address the reservation needs of OBCs and minorities, numerous other issues must also be taken into consideration.

Moily elaborated, "After the passing of this Constitutional amendment, a separate law will be enacted by Parliament to determine seats and quotas. Similar to the Delimitation Act, this law will address the determination of seats and reservation."

During the discussion on the Narendra Modi government's bill, Sonia Gandhi emphasised the pressing need for conducting a caste census.

While the Congress party backed the bill, they raised concerns about the delay in providing political representation to Indian women.

Sonia Gandhi called for the prompt enactment of the bill and the inclusion of a caste census to secure reservations for marginalised women, underlining that any postponement would be unfair to Indian women.