Creating history, the Rajya Sabha on Tuesday passed a Bill granting 33% reservation for women in Lok Sabha and state Assemblies. The Constitution (108th Amendment) Bill, pushed by the government after two days of high drama was passed by a two-third majority.
Of the votes polled, 186 were in favour of the Bill and only one was against. The Bill could get through with ?unequivocal? support from the BJP and Left in the Upper House where the ruling UPA coalition is in minority. The 245-member House has an effective strength of 233. UPA ally Trinamool Congress, with two members in the House, did not participate in the voting. Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and Leader of Opposition Arun Jaitley described the measure as ?momentous and historic?.
The BSP, which has 12 members, walked out of the House, saying the Bill did not contain amendments suggested by it. The SP and RJD, who created unruly scenes in the Lok Sabha and forced four adjournments, decided to move a no-confidence motion against the government as early as tomorrow.
Singh, who intervened in the Rajya Sabha discussion, said the legislation was a ?historic and great? step in the empowerment of women. ?It is not not an anti-minority or anti-SC or ST Bill. But it only carries forward the emancipation of women,? he said, allaying apprehensions of opponents that the Bill was aimed against Muslim, OBC and Dalit women.
Last-ditch efforts by SP?s Mulayam Singh Yadav, RJD?s Lalu Prasad and JD(U)?s Sharad Yadav failed to persuade the Prime Minister and UPA chairperson Sonia Gandhi from not going ahead with the legislation in its present form.
The Bill had the backing of all UPA constituents, minus Trinamool Congress, the BJP, Left parties and other parties like the AIADMK and TDP. The measure will now go to Lok Sabha where the UPA has the numbers to get it passed with support from BJP, Left and other small parties backing it, notwithstanding opposition from SP, RJD and a divided JD(U).Gandhi expressed confidence that the government?s stability was not under threat due to the passage of the Bill.
Peeved over the importance given to Left parties by the Centre in getting the Bill passed, Trinamool Congress, the largest constituent of the UPA after Congress, kept away from voting in the Rajya Sabha. Its two members did not vote. ?The PM promised us that an all-party conference would be convened on Tuesday. But they never told us. It appears Brinda Karat and CPM have been taken into confidence. I am upset. Lalu and we are government allies. We don?t want to bulldoze democratic process,? Trinamool Congress leader Mamata Banerjee said.
