PRIME Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday said that a new path for the development of women has opened for women with the passage of the Women’s Reservation Bill in Parliament. PM Modi said this development had resulted in increased excitement for the Navratri festival. Addressing a public rally in Varanasi, PM Narendra Modi said, “Women’s Reservation Bill has increased the excitement for Navratri. New paths for women’s development will open. I congratulate all the women of India for it. Women’s leadership may be a modern approach for the rest of the world, but we are people who worship Goddess Parvati and Mother Ganga before Lord Shiva.” Adding that the Women’s Reservation Bill was passed in Parliament with record votes, PM Modi said, “This MP from your Kashi has got this good fortune due to your blessings.”

 

“Varanasi is the birthplace of warriors like Rani Lakshmi Bai. From Rani Lakshmi Bai in the independence struggle to women in Chandrayaan-3, we have proven in every era what women’s leadership is. This (Women’s Reservation Bill) law was pending for 30 years, but now it is passed in both Houses of the Parliament. Parties who had been opposing it also had to come in support of it,” PM Modi said.

 

The Parliament on Thursday passed a historic legislation to provide 33 per cent quota for women in Lok Sabha and State Assemblies. Lok Sabha passed the Bill on Wednesday in the Parliament’s Special Session with 454 members voting in favour of the legislation and two against it. The Rajya Sabha passed Women’s Reservation Bill unanimously on Thursday with 214 members voting in support and none against. PM Modi further emphasized that the respect for women has increased due to women-centric policies being implemented by the BJP.