Bhopal, Sep 20 (IANS) Former Chief Minister Uma Bharti wrote to Prime Minister Narendra Modi to express her concern over the Women’s Reservation Bill. She has demanded that 33 per cent reservation should be assured for women in the Legislative Assemblies.

In her letter to Modi, Bharti has demanded that 50 per cent seats should be set aside for ST, SC and OBC communities. Bharti also hailed the Centre’s decision to pass the Bill stating that the “step is a matter of happiness for the women of the country.”

Bharti recalled that when the Women’s Reservation Bill was presented in the House by the then Prime Minister Deve Gowda in 1996, she had then moved an amendment to this Bill.

“I was a Member of Parliament. I immediately stood up and moved an amendment to this Bill and more than half of the House supported me. Deve Gowda happily accepted the amendment. He announced the handing over of the Bill to the Standing Committee.”

She also recalled that there was a lot of uproar in the House before it was adjourned. She wrote in her letter that, when she came to the corridor of the House, many MPs from her party were angry but late former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee gave her a patient ear.

“Despite being staunch political opponents, Mulayam Singh Yadav, Lalu Yadav, and their party MPs were all in favour of the amendment,” she wrote.

“I am presenting a proposal for an amendment before you (PM Modi) as well. I am confident that you will get this Bill passed with the proposed amendments. The 33 per cent reservation for women in legislative bodies is a special provision. However, it should be ensured that of these 33 per cent reserved seats, 50 per cent are set aside for ST, SC and OBC women,” Bharti’s letter read.

She asserted that backward women from the Muslim community should also be considered for reservation in legislative bodies. “If this Bill is passed without this special provision, then the women from the backward classes will be deprived of this special opportunity,” she added.