Extending her party`s support to the women`s reservation bill, Congress parliamentary party chief Sonia Gandhi demanded that the quota be implemented immediately and SC, ST and OBC women also be given reservation following a caste census

Speaking on the bill, BJP member Nishikant Dubey said things work as per the Constitution amid criticism in certain quarters about the bill not being brought earlier. Reservation for women will happen and "why are you saying that nothing has been done?" Dubey said and asserted that the census will take place. During 2020-21, when the census was scheduled to happen, Dubey recalled the coronavirus pandemic had struck and the government had saved lives of crores of people

Participating in the discussion, DMK leader Kanimozhi said the women`s reservation bill is not about reservation but an "act of removing bias and injustice", while asserting that women want to be respected as equals. She said the clause pertaining to `after delimitation` in the bill should be removed as there could be an inordinate delay in the implementation of the reservation for women

Meanwhile, Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar has said that the BJP-led central government will not implement the bill and that they have taken it forward only to gain political advantage in the elections. "They will not implement the bill; if they wanted to do so, they would have done it earlier," he said

Gandhi, in the meanwhie, said it is an emotional moment for her and the decision to empower women through panchayati raj institutions was taken by her husband and former Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi. "The Bill was former PM Rajiv Gandhiji`s dream," Sonia Gandhi told reporters near the Parliament House