New Delhi: In response to the letter written by Congress president Rahul Gandhi to Prime Minister NarendraModi, Union law minister Ravi Shankar Prashad said that the government was in agreement with Rahul Gandhi on Women Reservation Bill but sought support of the Congress on triple talaq and nikahhalala.

Prashad writes to the Congress president, "The Women Reservation Bill was originally proposed by the NDA government headed by AtalBihari Vajpayee but could not be passed for want of consensus in Parliament. It was reintroduced during the UPA II in RajyaSabha. The NDA stood firm support of the Bill and had passed in the RajyaSabha. For reason best known to the government of that day, no efforts was made to have the bill passed in the LokSabha. The Bill lapsed with the dissolution of the LokSabha." He asked, "...why the Bill was not taken up for three years by the UPA government in the LokSabha and allowed to lapse."

The Union minister said, "As part of the new deal, we should approve in both houses of Parliament the Women Reservation Bill, the law prohibiting triple talaq and imposing penal consequences on those who violate the law and the law prohibiting nikahhalala. You will appreciate that the latter two not only give the women of the Muslim community an unequal treatment but also seriously compromise their dignity." Prashad writes, "Since you have shown your deep concern for the support of Women Reservation Bill in Parliament and state Assemblies to deal with challenges of their inadequate representation in these bodies, I propose that both the national parties - the BJP and the Congress - should come together and offer a new deal to Indian women to ensure equality and adequate representation."