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| RS passes historic women's Bill amid high drama |
| BS Reporter / New Delhi Mar 10, 2010, 00:56 IST |
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It was a show of strength all around as the Congress-led UPA government today crossed the first hurdle for the enactment of the historic Women’s Reservation Bill — passing it in the Rajya Sabha. In an unprecedented move in the recent history of the Parliament, marshalls were called in to forcibly oust seven MPs from the House to pass the bill.
Before this show of physical strength, it was Sonia Gandhi’s strong determination in the core committee meeting on Monday evening that paved the way for the bill despite strong opposition. She stood firm on the party’s commitment to pass the bill that will enable one-third reservation for women in the Lok Sabha and state assemblies.
According to top sources in the government, the Congress president was adamant and the party decided to push the controversial bill even if it meant that the government would fall. “We can’t ignore this important piece of social legislation. If Lalu Prasad (RJD chief with four Lok Sabha seats) and Mulayam Singh Yadav (Samajwadi Party boss with 21 Lok Sabha seats) can force an election and if they feel can come back with flying colours, so be it,” a senior minister of the UPA told Business Standard.
Prime Minister Manmohan Singh held another round of meeting with SP, RJD and JD(U), requesting them to pass the bill and promised to consider their concerns later. Quite expectedly, the leaders did not agree to the proposal. However, when JD(U) supported the bill in the upper house, party leader Sharad Yadav admitted that there were internal differences within his party but the it would oppose the bill in the Lok Sabha. The Bahujan Samaj Party opposed it.
After several adjournments, Rajya Sabha Chairman Hamid Ansari finally moved a resolution to suspend seven MPs for their unruly behavior. The seven MPs were marshalled out of the house. However, high drama prevailed when the MP, Kamal Akhtar of Samajwadi Party tried to injure himself with a broken glass while he was being forced out of the House.
A furious Mulayam Singh Yadav and Lalu Prasad later said that the attitude of the government is bringing back memories of the emergency and the subsequent dictatorial policies of the Congress. “The government can talk to terrorists and Naxalites but they can’t talk to MPs in Parliament. We asked them to convene an all-party meeting but they threw us out of the House. We are now at war with the Congress party,” Prasad said.
However, both Prasad and Yadav didn’t give a clear answer on when they would submit their letters for withdrawal of support to the UPA government before the President. Any political party that wishes to formally withdraw support from the government requires to submit a formal letter to the President of India. Otherwise, the government can’t be challenged to prove its majority on the floor of the House.
The Yadav leaders also tried desperately to show their might despite having just 25 MPs in the Lower House. Putting the differences over the White Paper presented by Railway Minister Mamata Bannerjee on the backburner, Prasad went on to meet the Trinamool leader requesting her to join forces against the Congress over this bill.
According to close aides of Banerjee, Prasad and Yadav hinted at bringing a no-confidence motion against the government and asked her to press for an all-party meeting and consensus on the Women’s Bill.
Their persuasion had some effects: the Trinamool Congress — the second largest ally of the present UPA with 19 MPs — abstained during the voting of the Women’s Bill in the Rajya Sabha. The Trinamool alleged that the Congress floor managers did not inform them about the timing of the voting.
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