The Tribune, Chandigarh, India

Wednesday, May 7, 2003, Chandigarh, India

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Consideration of Women’s Bill deferred
Government bows to pressure from allies
Tribune News Service

New Delhi, May 6
Bowing to pressure from the Opposition as well as three key NDA allies, the government today agreed to defer consideration of the controversial Women’s Reservation Bill “for the time being” in the Lok Sabha as an all-party meeting on the issue failed to reach a consensus.

The decision to defer the consideration of the Bill was taken at a meeting of floor leaders with Lok Sabha Speaker Manohar Joshi, immediately after the adjournment of the proceedings amidst uproar this morning.

The decision was announced by Mr Manohar Joshi after the House had witnessed uproarious scenes, with members of the Samajwadi Party and the RJD repeatedly storming the well during question hour.

Mr Joshi’s announcement led to the restoration of normalcy in the House. Though the BJP, the Congress and the CPM, which constitute nearly 75 per cent of the strength of the Lok Sabha, supported the measure, a strong undercurrent of resistance by members belonging to OBCs of some of these parties also led to the postponement of consideration of the Bill.

During the hour-long meeting, representatives of the Congress, the CPM and the Nationalist Congress Party urged that the Bill be adopted by the Lok Sabha, while the move was opposed by the Samajwadi Party, the Rashtriya Janata Dal and some of the allies of the NDA.

Mr Joshi told the agitated members that the all-party meeting convened by him after the House was adjourned for two hours failed to evolve unanimity and it was decided that another meeting be called to discuss the matter.

“The consideration of the Bill has been deferred for the time being,” Mr Joshi said amid thumping of desks by all those opposing the Bill, including members from the Samata Party, Janata Dal (U) and Shiv Sena, all allies of the ruling NDA.

A day after the government decided to bring forward the Bill following assurance of support from the Congress and the CPM, it was forced to agree to shelve it in the face of stiff opposition.

Taking a strong stand against the Bill in its present form, the Samajwadi Party and the RJD members repeatedly stormed the well and clashed with those from the Congress, forcing adjournment of the House in the pre-lunch session.

They warned that the Bill in its present form would never be acceptable to them and demanded reservation for Scheduled Castes, Scheduled Tribes, minorities and OBCs.

At one stage, the Samajwadi Party took serious exception to Congress deputy leader Shivraj Patil’s remark that his party was committed to protect the interests of weaker sections in every field, accusing the Congress of adopting a double standard by joining hands with BJP to get the Bill passed.

Opposing the remark, the Samajwadi Party members moved towards the Congress benches and had heated exchanges with Mr Patil. Sensing trouble, the Speaker adjourned the House till 2 p.m.

Samajwadi Party leader Mulayam Singh Yadav said his party was not opposed to reservation for women but wanted the Bill, introduced in the House in 1999, to provide reservation to women belonging to families of farmers, labourers and minorities and other backward classes.

Supporting the Samajwadi Party, RJD leader Raghuvansh Prasad Singh accused the government of conspiring with the Congress to deprive women from weaker sections of participating in the decision-making process.

Shiv Sena leader Chandrakant Khaire, Samata Party member Prabhunath Singh and JD(U) leader Devendra Prasad Yadav said the NDA partners were not taken into confidence before deciding to bring forward the proposed legislation.

Ruling out any further all-party meeting at the Prime Minister’s level on the Bill, the Centre said today that any new proposal with regard to women’s reservation should come from the Speaker after arriving at a consensus among all political parties.

“The present Bill cannot be passed in the Lok Sabha...Neither the government would bring any alternative Bill on its own nor hold any further all-party meeting at the level of the Prime Minister,” Parliamentary Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj told newspersons here.

Regretting that the Bill could not even be discussed in the Lok Sabha despite the government holding talks individually and collectively with all political parties, Ms Swaraj said, “We will think of an alternative Bill only when the Speaker gives us a concrete proposal after arriving at a consensus with all political parties.”

When asked why the government had decided to hold a discussion on the Bill when there were differences over it both in the Opposition and the NDA, Ms Swaraj maintained that the Bill was listed on the agenda for today so that people and the government could hear the opinion of the Members of Parliament.”