Women's Bill: Congress agrees to hold all-party meet

The government today managed to buy peace from the vociferous opponents of the Women’s Reservation Bill to pass its financial agenda in the Lok Sabha.

UPA managers agreed to hold consultations with all parties — a key demand of the opponents of the Bill — before bringing the contentious Bill in the Lower House. As a consequence, Mulayam Singh Yadav’s Samajwadi Party (SP), Lalu Prasad’s Rashtriya Janta Dal (RJD) and Sharad Yadav’s JD(U) refrained from disrupting the proceedings any further and discussions on the general Budget took off smoothly.

After appeasing the Yadav bandwagon, the UPA government is also likely to take a softer stand against the seven suspended members of the Rajya Sabha. The matter could have been addressed today, but at least two rebel MPs were not available in Parliament. Parliamentary Affairs Minister Pawan Kumar Bansal indicated their suspension could be revoked if they apologise.

The “go slow” mode on the Women’s Reservation Bill came after the party realised that even a large section of its own MPs and BJP members were apprehensive about their political future. For the first time, a Congress MP, Mohd Asraul Haque, openly floated the demand to cater to “the interests of all sections of the society" while passing the controversial Bill in the Lok Sabha. "There should not be any discrimination in the Bill and interests of all sections of the society should be taken into account," Haque told reporters.

Trouble is also brewing at the BJP’s backyard, with several MPs bickering over the move. A senior BJP leader told reporters, “During the NDA regime, Lalu Prasad and Mulayam had agreed to the Bill but with 15 per cent quota for women. The government was trying to make them agree to a 20 per cent quota. If the present government had taken the same stand, it would have been much easier.”

BJP’s Yogi Adityanath (MP from Gorakhpur) also openly defied the party stand and said, “If necessary, the whip could be defied. The Bill was like unseasonal rain that was not good for the country. There was no demand for such a legislation from any quarter.”

However, the BJP today denied that it was divided over the Bill. Party spokesperson Prakash Javadekar said: “Ours is a democratic party. People may have different views. But, once the party takes a decision, everyone falls in line. So, to say the party is divided over the women’s Bill, is a rumour. We condemn this rumour.”

In the Lok Sabha, Lalu Prasad also tried to incite this undercurrent and claimed, “Congress members are telling me to (please) save them, as they are being made to sign on their death certificates by supporting this legislation.”

He also raked up Rahul Gandhi’s visit to a Dalit woman’s house to drive home his point: “Rahul had visited the house of a poor daughter Kalavati. It is a good thing. He is a youth leader, he should move ahead but at the same time he should know that the daughters of Muslims and poor people should also benefit from reservation.”