The Women’s Reservation Bill 2023 has been unveiled with great ceremony—as if history itself had been waiting patiently for this moment of generosity. We are told, with straight faces, that the ruling party always intended to empower women, but the opposition, predictably, stood in the way. And now again, by not passing the bill, the opposition is throwing tantrums.
It is a neat story. Almost comforting in its simplicity. Also, quite convenient.
Because when the Bill finally arrived in 2023, it did not arrive alone. It came with fine print—delimitation, census, and future adjustments. Conditions that ensure that implementation remains just out of reach, like a well-crafted promise that is always about to happen, but never quite does.
One must admire the timing. And the strategy.
After all, reserving 33% of the current 545 Lok Sabha seats would require political parties to give up something real—winnable constituencies, established strongholds, carefully cultivated power. That is a difficult exercise. Much easier, then, to increase the total number of seats. Expand the table so that no one has to give up their chair.
A win-win situation, we are told.
But for whom?
Certainly not for the idea of accountability. Certainly not for the principle of fair representation. But very much for those who wish to appear progressive without paying the price of progress.
Closer home, in Goa, I witnessed a small but telling rehearsal of this grand narrative. A press conference by women representatives of the BJP- an occasion that should have demonstrated clarity, conviction, and command.
Instead, it offered smiles.
Questions were asked. Serious ones that affect men’s and women’s everyday lives. The kind that requires empathy, thoughtfulness, perhaps even courage to admit mistakes. The responses? Smiles. A few tentative words, arguing for the sake of argument in the style of “no bread, then eat cakes”, and quickly abandoned. Finally, the declaration: they were there simply to announce that Narendra Modiji would introduce the Bill.
And then—more smiles. Curtain down.
BJP Women MLAs addressing the media on Women’s Reservation BillI know a few of these women. They are not foolish. Which makes the performance all the more precise. This was not ignorance. It was obedience, carefully rehearsed and publicly performed.
And this is where the celebration begins to sound hollow.
If the future Parliament is to be filled with women who have mastered the art of smiling through questions, absorbing instructions, and avoiding independent thought—then what exactly are we reserving? Seats, certainly. But voices?
Representation is not about occupying space. It is about using it.
A Parliament that replaces silent men with silent women is not progress. It is symmetry.
So yes, bring in the reservation. By all means. But do it with honesty. Do it without postponements disguised as procedure. Do it without expanding the House merely to protect existing power equations. And most importantly, do it with the intention of bringing in women who will speak, not just smile on cue.
Because a democracy does not need more agreeable faces.
It needs inconvenient voices. It needs voices that will protect our sacred Constitution!
