Modi Pushes Law on More Women Legislators Before Key Polls (1)

Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s government resurrected a long-pending bill to reserve a third of lawmakers’ seats for women, an important constituency for the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party heading into next year’s national elections.

The Women’s Reservation Bill, which seeks to ensure reservation for women at the federal and state levels to improve representation of half of the country’s population, was presented to the lower house of parliament on Tuesday during a special session.

The bill and other measures like it have been kicking aroundsince 1996, only to stall at different points in the legislative process. It will ...