Tripura Assembly urges Centre to revive Women Reservation Bill amid political divide

The Tripura Assembly on Thursday adopted a motion urging the Central government to reintroduce the Women’s Reservation Bill, also known as the ‘Nari Shakti Vandan Adhiniyam’, following a prolonged and heated debate.

The motion, moved by Government Chief Whip Kalyani Saha Roy and supported by 16 other treasury bench members, was strongly backed by the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party and its allies -- the Tipra Motha Party (TMP) and the Indigenous People’s Front of Tripura (IPFT).

However, Opposition parties, the Communist Party of India (Marxist) and the Congress, opposed the move.

A total of 25 Ministers and Members of the Legislative Assembly, including Chief Minister Dr Manik Saha and his cabinet colleagues, participated in the seven-hour-long discussion before the motion was adopted by voice vote.

The motion stated: “With a view to further strengthening and safeguarding the constitutional rights of Indian women, this House calls for the establishment of a consensus among all parliamentary political parties of the country and earnestly urges the Central government to take immediate steps to initiate the process of delimitation on the basis of the Census of 2011, and simultaneously to undertake renewed efforts to amend the Constitution (131st Amendment) Bill (Nari Shakti Vandan Adhiniyam) with the objective of ensuring the implementation of reservation of one-third of the total seats for women in the Lok Sabha and the State Legislative Assemblies.”

Participating in the discussion, Chief Minister Dr Manik Saha strongly criticised opposition parties, stating that they had previously opposed several key initiatives, including the construction of the Ram Temple, the Triple Talaq Bill, the introduction of the Goods and Services Tax, and Operation Sindoor, all of which were eventually implemented successfully by the National Democratic Alliance government led by Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

“Opposition parties are creating confusion about the Women’s Reservation Bill through misleading narratives,” Dr Saha said, adding that apart from empowering women, such a reservation will help eliminate gender bias across all areas.

He further noted that attempts to introduce legislation on women’s reservation were made in Parliament in 1996, 1998, and 2010, but none succeeded until the Modi government passed the Bill in 2023.

In a post on his official Facebook account, the Chief Minister described April 17 as a “Black Day for Indian Democracy,” alleging that the Opposition’s stance reflected its attitude towards women’s empowerment.

Members of treasury bench echoed similar sentiments, claiming that recent developments surrounding the Nari Shakti Vandan Adhiniyam exposed what they termed the Opposition’s “anti-women” mindset.

Leader of the Opposition(LoP) Jitendra Chaudhury, who is also the state Secretary of the Communist Party of India (Marxist), countered the government’s claims.

He argued that the Modi government had attempted to pass the 131st Amendment Bill on April 17 by linking the delimitation process with women’s reservation in Parliament and State Assemblies.

“All opposition parties supported the Women’s Reservation Bill in 2023. However, this time the Bharatiya Janata Party government has attempted to push the 131st Amendment Bill to serve narrow political interests,” Chaudhury told the House.

Congress Member of Legislative Assembly and former Minister Sudip Roy Barman, along with his colleague Gopal Chandra Roy, supported Chaudhury’s position.

Opposition members further pointed out that governments led by their parties in various states had already implemented 50 per cent reservation for women in local bodies.

Several Ministers, including Ratan Lal Nath, Sudhangshu Das, Tinku Roy, Animesh Debbarma (TMP), and Sukla Charan Noatia (IPFT), and many Members of the Legislative Assembly of the treasury bench spoke in favour of the motion.

Parliamentary Affairs Minister Ratan Lal Nath stated that women would not forgive Opposition leaders for resisting the proposed reservation.

The Constitution (131st Amendment) Bill, 2026, which aims to implement 33 per cent reservation for women in the Lok Sabha and State Assemblies by 2029, failed to pass in the Lok Sabha on April 17.

Following the developments in Parliament, the Bharatiya Janata Party has launched “Jan Aakrosh Padyatra” campaigns across different parts of the country, targeting Congress, Trinamool Congress, Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam, Samajwadi Party, Left parties, and others for opposing the Bill.