BJD attends all-party meeting, demands to pass Women's Reservation Bill

The Biju Janata Dal (BJD) on Saturday raised a demand to pass the Women's Reservation Bill, during the all-party meeting held in New Delhi for the Budget Session of Parliament.

"Odisha Chief Minister and BJD president Naveen Patnaik have specifically requested the Union Government to have the Women's Reservation Bill passed in this Budget session," said Lok Sabha MP Pinaki Misra.

BJD gave 7 out of 21 MP tickets to women in the 2019 Lok Sabha elections, he said claiming to be the only political party to have done so.

"Five of the BJD women MPs won and so did 2 BJP MPs. Therefore, Chief Minister Patnaik is happy that Odisha is the only state in the country to have one-third of women MPs in Lok Sabha," Pinaki Misra said.

Both BJP and Congress have publicly backed this Women's Reservation Bill along with a number of political parties. "Yuvajana Sramika Rythu Congress Party (YSRCP) and Telangana Rashtra Samiti (TRS) today also openly backed Chief Minister of Odisha's demand for passage of Women's Reservation Bill), therefore it should be no problem to pass this in Lok Sabha," he added.

He further said that the Rajya Sabha has already passed it almost ten years back. Therefore, Odisha Chief Minister feels that the time has come when the Lok Sabha must pass it.

The first part of the Budget Session is scheduled to continue till February 15 while the second part of the session will be held from March 8 to April 8.

Rajya Sabha will function from 9 am to 2 pm and Lok Sabha from 4 pm to 9 pm with Zero Hour and Question Hour.