Fissures Widen In Uf Over Womens Bill

Differences within the United Front over the womens reservation bill sharpened further yesterday with the DMK also voicing the demand for providing quotas to women of backward classes and minorities within the proposed 33 per cent reservation and the CPI rejecting demands for a conscience vote on the measure.

The executive of the DMK, a major constituent of the United Front, which met at Chennai yesterday, passed a resolution appealing to the Centre to ensure passage of the bill immediately providing suitable reservations for women belonging to backward classes and minorities within the 33 per cent reservation.

CPIs national council member, D Raja, said the demand for conscience voting on the bill would amount to diluting the commitment of political parties to womens reservation and double speak on the issue.

He said the bill should be passed in its present form in the next session of Parliament and the Left parties would raise the issue during the next meeting of the United Front steering committee this weekend.

Meanwhile, Janata Dal MP and party general secretary, Wasim Ahmed, also joined his party leader, Sharad Yadav, demanding reservation to under-privileged sections among women in the proposed reservation.

Otherwise, the measure would remain an ornamental value, he added.

Ahmed said in Aligarh that it was a major mistake on the part of the government to rush ahead with the measure before holding a discussion within the parliamentary party. This unnecessary haste has raised apprehensions in certain quarters, he said. Meanwhile, BJP president L K Advani said in Hubli that the BJP would not propose any amendment to the bill moved in the Lok Sabha last week. This assumes significance in the wake of his party MP Uma Bharti demanding on Tuesday that the reservation should include quotas for women belonging to backward classes.

Asked about her comments, Advani said, the person, who had diferences on the issue, has already made a statement that she will accept the partys view.

In Jaipur, Bharti yesterday demanded a special seven-day session of Lok Sabha to discuss exclusively the womens reservation bill.