DAILY FROM: AHMEDABAD, CHANDIGARH, DELHI, JAIPUR, KOLKATA, LUCKNOW, MUMBAI, NAGPUR, PUNE, VADODARA TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 19, 2023, NEW DELHI, LATE CITY, 22 PAGES FIRSTSESSIONTODAY in new Parliament building JOURNALISM OF COURAGE SINCE 1932 PM MODIPRAISESNEHRU, other PMs, silent on Rajiv Gandhi `7.00 (`8 BIHAR & RAIPUR, `12 SRINAGAR) WWW.INDIANEXPRESS.COM KHARGETARGETSMODI: Doesn’t want to see Opp shadow Women’s Bill in the works again Hours earlier, bipartisan support: Opp urged Govt to bring Bill made by Jawaharlal Nehru and otherPrimeMinisters,thecollective efforts of every Member of Parliament since Independence CONTINUED ON PAGE 4 CONTINUED ON PAGE 4 EXPLAINED GENDER-WISE BREAK-UP OF THOSE WHO VOTED (IN %) 70 62.0 67.2 Male NA 60 67.0 50 40 Female 46.6 2014 PMNarendraModioutside the House,Monday. Renuka Puri CONTINUED ON PAGE 4 2019 BY UNNY 2009 PAGES 8, 15 LEADING THE House in bidding farewell to the existing Parliament building before Members move to the new building Tuesday for its first session, Prime Minister Narendra Modi told Lok Sabha Monday “we are leaving this building with hope for the future”. In a speech in which he largelyrefrainedfrompoliticalattacks or criticism, the Prime Ministerhailedthecontributions THE NARENDRA Modi government’s decision to bring the women’s reservation Bill ahead of stateelectionsandthegeneral electionsnextyearcapsitsstring 2004 HANGING FIRE FOR 27 YEARS: HOW BILL KEPT LAPSING WHAT TWO HOUSE PANELS SAID ON WOMEN’S QUOTA THE WOMEN’S RESERVATION BILL, VERSION 2010 NEW DELHI, SEPTEMBER 18 1999 BUSINESS AS USUAL NEW DELHI, SEPTEMBER 18 E of measures targeting social welfarism to women and ● framing it in terms of empowerment and representation. In fact, Monday’s decision comesbarelydaysaftertwosuch 1998 LIZ MATHEW VIKAS PATHAK & HARIKISHAN SHARMA 1996 We leave this building with hope for the future: PM on farewell day 1991 INSIDE Welfarism, BJP gender politics: Uptick in women voters drives change on ground 1989 CONTINUED ON PAGE 4 Special session proceedings will move from the old Parliament building (right) to the new one (left) on Tuesday. Renuka Puri Swachh Bharat, Beti Bachao to 33% quota via Ujjwala, Triple Talaq 1984 IN A sign of bipartisan support for a law on quota for women in ParliamentandstateAssemblies, several Opposition MPs, speaking in the two Houses hours before the Cabinet met Monday, called for such a Bill and its immediate passage. Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge, Leader of Opposition in Rajya Sabha, said, “We all wish that the women’s reservation Bill should be brought and women should be given what is due.” He urged the government to bring the Bill, saying that even though the world had changed since the first Lok Sabha when 5% of MPs were women, today the Rajya Sabha and Lok Sabha had only 10% and 14% women MPs, respectively. Kharge said there had been efforts in the past to enact a law on reservation for women, and if Chairman Jagdeep Dhankhar were to take up the issue, the government would respond. Later in the day, after the Cabinet meeting, Congress NEW DELHI, SEPTEMBER 18 1977 HOURS AFTERthe curtains were drawn on the old Parliament to mark the move to its new premises, the women’s reservation Bill, stuck for 27 years, was said to have been cleared by the Narendra Modi Government reserving 33 per cent seats for women in Parliament and legislative Assemblies. The Union Cabinet, which held an unscheduled meeting Monday evening, is said to be finalising the path-breaking legislation, sources said. They added that it is unlikely to be implemented in the 2024 Lok Sabha elections. It will be rolled out only after the delimitationprocessisover,mostprobably in 2029, sources said. “The Bill will be brought in theongoingsessionbutthereare many ifs and buts…so the implementation is unlikely before the next Lok Sabha election. Most probably, it will take place only after the delimitation (which is expected to be held in 2026) but the process will begin soon,” said a top source familiar with the developments. 1980 HARIKISHAN SHARMA & MANOJ C G 1971 NEW DELHI, SEPTEMBER 18 1967 LIZ MATHEW 1962 MoS tweets congrats, deletes post after meeting of Cabinet