JD(U) extends support to women's reservation bill

JD(U) today extended its support to women's reservation bill and said "it should be passed without any ifs and buts" adding that it is the party's "wish and not condition".
"I have come to say that from today onwards you can remove the name of JD(U) as one of the parties opposed to Women's reservation bill," JD(U) general secretary K C Tyagi said at an event organised by National Federation of Indian Women to mark two decades of women's reservation bill.
Tyagi, however, also made a strong case for women from backward classes to be given a quota within the Bill.

"Instead of 33 per cent reservation there should be 50 per cent...But once this Bill is passed we must sit and ponder over accommodating within that the marginalised section.
"...On the behalf of the entire party I would like to state that we support women's reservation bill... Women themselves are slaves in our culture. Poverty is also a kind of slavery, and so is casteism. Neither should there be a caste bias or a class bias. And, you will have to fight this battle on both these fronts", the JD(U) leader said.
He also said that supporting the bill without any quota will amount to "political insincerity".

When he was asked whether "quota within quota" will be the pre-condition for JD(U)'s support to women's reservation, Tyagi clarified and said it was only the party's "wish".

"It should be passed without ifs and buts. If there are any conditions then people will get an excuse to delay it. This is our wish but not our condition," he said.
Tyagi also emphasised that 50 per cent of reservation for women in Panchayati Raj Institutions and in local bodies has already been implemented in Bihar. He also said that Bihar has okayed 35 per cent reservation for women in state government jobs.

CPI's Sudhakar Reddy and D Raja, CPM's Sitaram Yechury and Congress leader Mani Shankar Aiyar were present among others.
Kanhaiya Kumar, Ex-JNUSU President, also addressed the gathering. Kanhaiya lamented why didn't the Left parties implement 33 per cent reservation for women within their parties before demanding reservation in Parliament.
Congress Leader Mani Shankar Aiyar said that it was time to demand 50 per cent reservation for women in Parliament like in Panchayati Raj Institutions. He also proposed that a male and a female MP could be elected from a single constituency.