The Women’s Reservation Bill hit another roadblock today as United Progressive Alliance (UPA) member and Congress ally Trinamool Congress, and even the Left parties, mooted a separate quota for Muslims within the women’s quota.
The Samajwadi Party (SP), the Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) and a section of the Janata Dal (United) announced that there was no change in their position — that their condition for supporting 33 per cent reservation for women in the Lok Sabha and state legislatures was that within this quota, a percentage be reserved for minorities and Other Backward Classes. Today, Trinamool Congress and Left parties added their voice to this demand.
Congressmen (and women) said this was absurd. When there was no reservation for Muslim men, how could there be separate reservation of seats for Muslim women ?
Top Congress sources suggest that party president Sonia Gandhi will take a final call on the passage of the Bill in the Lok Sabha. “It is a tricky situation. If we push the Bill, we might lose support of crucial allies and the government may be crippled in its functioning for the next few years. At the same time, it is an important piece of social legislation and a long-pending promise of the Congress party,” a senior minister said.
Another senior UPA manager said that even if the party decided to bring the Bill during the current session of Parliament, it will not come before the Finance Bill is passed in the lower House. The government gives priority to the Finance Bill, a constitutional obligation, and doesn't want to permanently alienate supporters before the Budget matters are resolved.
At the all-party meeting, convened by Union Finance Minister and Leader of the Lok Sabha Pranab Mukherjee, the railway minister strongly favoured a quota within quota for Muslim women and clearly said that she wanted the Bill to be amended and refined before it was brought in the Lok Sabha. “I am in favour of reservation for women. The Bill should be passed but the interest of Muslims should be taken care of,” Banerjee remarked after the meeting.
The Left too tried to balance its position as one after another party representatives harped on the quota-within-quota issue. “We told the government if it has any plan for sub-quota it should place it before the political parties,” CPI(M) leader in the Lok Sabha Basudeb Acharya said. CPI leader Gurudas Dasgupta also echoed similar sentiments in the meeting.
While the Trinamool Congress, the biggest ally of the Congress in the UPA with 19 seats, rallied behind the Yadav trio (RJD’s Lalu Prasad, SP’s Mulayam Singh Yadav and JD(U)’s Sharad Yadav), the BJP made it clear it would oppose such a move. The BJP has 116 MPs in the Lower House and it had supported the government in the Upper House in passing the Bill during the first half of the Budget session.
“We want the Bill to be passed in its current form. If the government wants to accept the Election Commission’s proposals and allows parties to decide their own quota, even that is acceptable. But we will oppose any move for quota within quota,” BJP leader and Leader of Opposition Sushma Swaraj said after the meeting.
According to insiders, SP chief Mulayam Singh Yadav slammed the government for trying to bring Women’s Reservation Bill in its current form. “If the government is so keen, let it first reserve seats in IAS, IPS and other civil services. You (government managers) can also have quota in IITs and IIMs. You reserve seats in these areas first and then think about reserving seats in Lok Sabha and assemblies.” Lalu Prasad strongly suggested that the government should “defer” the plan to place the bill in Lok Sabha.
While AIADMK, DMK, National Conference, JD(S), NCP, the Left and the BJP are in favour of the Bill, the government did not reveal its mind on when it expects to pass the Bill in the Lok Sabha. Apart from the finance minister, Home Minister P Chidambaram, Defence Minister A K Antony, Parliamentary Affairs Ministers Pawan Kumar Bansal and Prithviraj Chavan were present in the meeting. The UPA managers told the meeting that they would report the proceedings of this meeting with Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and convene another all-party meeting.
