Ahmedabad: Those who had left the bill to reserve seats for women in the Lok Sabha and state assemblies "hanging" for ten years, Prime Minister Narendra Modi remarked on Tuesday, ultimately voted for it out of dread of women's power.
He was addressing a group of women who had gathered to congratulate him on the bill's success in passing.
Opponents of the law, which will reserve 33 percent of seats in the Lok Sabha and state assemblies for women, raised different objections, the prime minister added, using words like "but" and "however" in their rhetoric.
A historic majority in Parliament voted in favour of the bill. Modi claimed that those who had allowed the measure to linger for ten years did so out of fear of women's political influence.
When he said the law was "my guarantee," he wasn't kidding.
"You sent me 'rakhis' on Rakshabandhan, women's reservation is a gift from your brother," the prime minister said to the big crowd, adding that when women come out in large numbers to lead, the country's growth is secured.—Inputs from Agencies