You have been associated with the women's reservation Bill for a long time. What is the history behind it?
The concept behind the demand is very simple. Women's representation needs to increase in our polity and 33 per cent is the minimum that is being demanded. The roots of the demand go back to 1996, when the demand was first articulated. All political parties had, in the following elections, put the demand in their manifestos as well. After the 1996 elections, when Deve Gowda became Prime Minister and P A Sangma was the Speaker of the Lok Sabha and I was deputy chairperson of the Rajya Sabha, we held a conference of the Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU) in Delhi, the topic of which was "Towards partnership between men and women". At this conference, Deve Gowda promised reservations for women. And Sangma, who is given very little credit for this, actually set up a women's empowerment committee. I was the first chairperson of the committee. A Bill was prepared and the late Geeta Mukherjee was the head of the Joint Parliamentary Committee on the Bill, which was tabled amidst an uproar. Then, as you know, Atalji became PM and Sushmaji as Parliamentary affairs Minister tried to table the Bill thrice, but that led to a logjam.

Some people question as to why women should be given reservations. After all, having women on top positions has not helped the lot of women?
I am not looking for a change in the lives of women through the Bill. I am looking for a change in the life of the country. A democracy has to be inclusive and has to reflect the social make-up, that is the philosophy behind every reservation policy. There have been mostly men ruling the country. What significant difference have they made "exclusively" to the life of the men? We want that more quality women should come into politics who are genuinely interested in politics. People like me or several other top women politicians come from backgrounds where we did not have to face the kind of hurdles women generally face when they want to enter politics. We want that every strata and shade of opinion of women politicians should be represented.

Some people, including sections of your own party, argue that an amendment to the People's Representation Act, enjoining political parties to reserve 33 per cent of tickets for women is a more doable option?
In our electoral system, which puts faith in the first past the post system, the most important thing is winnability. When party managers hold the opinion that women cannot win elections, and even in caste dominated ticket distribution, men of a certain caste are preferred over women, how is that supposed to work? We try to explain that if the caste or the community is the basis for giving out tickets, then why not give the ticket to women. There are many examples of women winning on seats where previously men were given tickets, like Susheela Bangaru in the last election. When you do try to enforce some kind of representation for women in ticket distribution, we find that non-winnable seats are handed over to them. All we want is a reasonable chance for a woman candidate to be elected.

How optimistic are you about the present move by the UPA government to bring in the Bill?
Not too much. What I want to know is that if the UPA government is committed to the women's reservation Bill, then why wait for four years to introduce the Bill. If it is a promise of the Common Minimum Programme, then does it mean that they would do just the minimum? To introduce it on the last day of the Budget session in such a dramatic manner, and in the last year of the government, is not an encouraging sign. The parliamentary committee has only three months to build a consensus, among opinions which are strong and long standing.

Do you think that in the coalition era, this kind of a Bill is a non-starter? Since it is so difficult to build a consensus on the kind of Bill that should be there.
This Bill would have required consensus even if a government had the kind of majority that Rajiv Gandhi had in 1985. After all, women do not live in an exclusive women-only world. At the end of the day, in a political system, women will need the help of political workers of both genders to win elections. In such a situation, we cannot push this Bill through the force of numbers, but a general political consensus. If men resent it or do not truly want this, do you think it will change the situation, Bill or no Bill?