TIL Desk/National/New Delhi/ The Lok Sabha on Tuesday passed a constitutional amendment bill to provide 10 per cent reservation in education and government jobs for ‘economically weak’ people across castes and religions, with virtually all parties supporting it despite the Opposition calling the proposed law a pre-poll ‘stunt’ of the Modi government.
The bill, which the government said was “historic” and in the country’s interest, will now be tabled on Wednesday in Rajya Sabha where proceedings have already been extended by a day. After a debate that continued for over four-and-a-half hours, 323 Lok Sabha members voted in support of the bill and only three voted against it, underlining the cross-party support given political significance of the proposed legislation.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi, as also Congress president Rahul Gandhi were present when the voting took place. In a series of tweets, Modi later thanked MPs from all parties for supporting the bill and called it a “landmark moment” that would ensure every poor person, irrespective of caste and creed, to get a life of dignity and access to all possible opportunities.
