M A I N   N E W S

UPA in no hurry, may delay Bill
Anita Katyal
Our Political Correspondent

New Delhi, March 10
After the ugly scenes witnessed in Rajya Sabha during the passage of the Women’s Reservation Bill, the UPA government appears to be in no hurry to introduce it in Lok Sabha.

Since tempers are still running high as seen in Lok Sabha today when the opponents of the Bill did not allow the House to function, the UPA government wants to give them time to cool off before taking the next step. By all indications, the Bill will be taken up in the Lower House in the second phase of the current session commencing on April 16. Congress sources admitted that the passage of the Bill would be much tougher in the Lok Sabha, as the number of those opposing it is much larger.

Although the Congress, BJP and the Left parties have pledged support to this Bill, there is a growing disquiet among all these parties, as this Bill will directly affect Lok Sabha members. Voices of dissent have surfaced in the BJP with senior party leader Yashwant Sinha publicly declaring that many party members were not happy with the manner in which this Bill was passed in Rajya Sabha.

BJP member Yogi Adityanath has said the party should not issue a whip and that members be allowed a conscience vote on the Bill. The Bill’s opponents - Rashtriya Janata Dal leader Lalu Prasad Yadav, Samajwadi Party chief Mulayum Singh Yadav and Janata Dal (U) leader Sharad Yadav, are learnt to be stoking the fires in other parties.

There are suggestions that a compromise might be arrived at by amending the Bill. One proposal is to increase the number of seats in the Lok Sabha to 750 and the additional seats being reserved for women.Another suggestion is to reduce the quantum of reserved seats from the present 33 to 20 per cent. For the present, UPA sources said their top priority was to complete the government’s financial business.

The finance and appropriation Bills have been slated for the second phase. The demands for grants of several ministries are also to be taken up for discussion before the final guillotine is applied on April 22.

Before it goes through these constitutional requirements, Lok Sabha will pass a vote-on-account on March 12 to enable the government to draw money for its expenditure for the next two months.

UPA ministers said though the BJP and the Left parties have assured smooth passage of the financial business, the government does not want to vitiate the atmosphere any further.

Day after, Didi mellows down
Vibha Sharma
Tribune News Service

New Delhi, March 10
After high-voltage drama on Tuesday, Trinamool Congress chief Mamata Banerjee showed visible signs of mellowing down today. This happened after ‘Didi’ met the Congress’ most-trusted lieutenant Pranab Mukherjee and party president Sonia Gandhi.

Mamata had a meeting with Congress chief Sonia Gandhi at her 10 Janpath residence. Later, Mamata told the media that Sonia had assured her that her concerns regarding the Women’s Reservation Bill would be considered before the bill is placed in the Lok Sabha.

Sonia had yesterday expressed surprise over Trinamool’s abstention in Rajya Sabha, saying that Mamata had been “enthusiastic” when the Women’s Reservation Bill was discussed in a Cabinet meeting.

Trinamool MPs had stayed away from voting on the Bill, accusing the government of trying to bulldoze the measure. Keeping her eyes firmly locked on Bengal politics, Mamata asserted that she was opposed to passing the Bill in Parliament by force and wanted inclusion of minority quota in the new law. A large part of her indignation was also over the importance given by the Congress to her arch-rivals --- the Left --- during the passage of the Bill.

A day after, Mamata attributed her party’s abstention to a “communication gap”. “In Rajya Sabha, we have two members. We were not informed... there was a communication gap,” she explained outside Parliament.

Interestingly, Congress sources reveal that when the party issued a whip to its members, Mamata was informed.

For the Congress, Mamata’s calming down is a welcome relief, especially in view of latest developments in the Opposition camp and whispers of the Yadav troika being egged to bring a no-confidence motion against the government. He said cooling down of tempers indicated that all those opposed to the legislation had reconciled with the fact that reservation for women in Parliament would soon become a reality.

“The indignation witnessed yesterday has cooled down. Allies, who vehementally opposed it, seem to have realised that opposing the Bill beyond can become counter-productive,” he added.

Mamata also clarified that she supported the Bill and was committed to the Constitutional amendment. She added that during the meeting of allies with Prime Minister Manmohan Singh it was decided that an all-party meeting would be called where her party could also raise the issue of including minorities. “But no meeting was called later,” she said.

However, she did not mince words while attacking the Left. When pointed out that the Left was taking all the credit for successful passage of the Bill, Mamata said the Left never wanted quota for women in the Upper House as it was against letting common women entering the Rajya Sabha.

Regarding her party’s demand for inclusion of minorities in the legislation, Mamata said the issue of quota for minorities had also been mentioned in Srikrishna Commission and Sachar Committee reports.