Congress Parliamentary Party chairperson Sonia Gandhi is expected to be lead speaker from her party in the Lok Sabha when the Lower House takes up the women’s reservation Bill for debate and passage on Wednesday, September 20, 2023.
Ms. Gandhi was seen as the driving force behind the women’s reservation Bill that was passed in the Rajya Sabha on March 9,2010, during the Manmohan Singh government. But the Bill lapsed as it could not be taken up in the Lok Sabha because of a lack on consensus among political parties.
Several regional parties, including some allies of the United Progressive Alliance (UPA), had objected to the fact the Bill did not have separate quota for for women belonging to Other Backward Classes (OBCs).
