Enough, majority will do: PM

The ill-fated Women’s Reservation Bill, which has lurched from session to session in the past seven years, may finally see light of the...

The ill-fated Women’s Reservation Bill, which has lurched from session to session in the past seven years, may finally see light of the day if the Prime Minister’s declaration today is anything to go by. In a surprising move, an exasperated Prime Minister A.B. Vajpayee announced that the Bill would be passed by a majority vote if a consensus among all political parties continued to elude him.

Today’s all-party meet on the contentious Bill, called by the Prime Minister himself, folded inconclusively yet again because it failed to arrive at any consensus. It was a crestfallen Sushma Swaraj, Parliamentary Affairs Minister, who admitted this after the 90-minute meeting. However, she was pleased that most of the political parties which attended the meeting supported the Bill in its present form and that some had even demanded it should be passed in the current session itself.

The meeting discussed the Constitution Amendment Bill which seeks to ensure 33 per cent reservation for women in the Lok Sabha and state assemblies. The Government has been trying to arrive at a consensus for the last four years. The core of the problem lies in the crucial factor whether the Bill should be in its current form or be modified to suit its critics.

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The SP and the RJD insist on inserting a clause in the proposed law which will provide for reservation for women belonging to minorities and backward classes. While both have demanded a reduction in reservation from 33 per cent to 20 per cent, Mulayam Singh is also against rotation of seats. Says the SP leader: ‘‘We would also like to put it before our party workers and work out a consensus before we give our go-ahead.’’

Laloo would like ‘‘five per cent each for SC, ST and OBCs and five per cent in the general category.’’ The RJD leader also said political parties ‘‘should decide who it should give to and how seats should be distributed.’’

Ironically, such a demand has come from within the BJP too with its leaders like Uma Bharti leading the call. But with the Prime Minister’s bold call for a majority vote rather than consensus, it should send the right, favourable signals on the Bill’s fate.

Deputy PM L.K. Advani, who also attended the meeting, said while efforts were on for a consensus on the Bill, the Government was also ready to consider the alternate Election Commission (EC) proposal if there was unanimity on the issue. Congress president and Leader of the Opposition Sonia Gandhi said her party continued to support the Bill in its present form.

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Among those parties which attended the meeting, the Shiv Sena and Akali Dal favoured the EC proposal while the BSP and AIADMK wanted the Bill in its present form. NDA allies like the PMK, JD-U, Samata and TDP were not present.