India: House passes historic Women’s quota Bill amid protests

The Upper House of Indian Parliament, Rajya Sabha, on Tuesday evening passed the historic Women's Reservation Bill reserving one-third seats for women in Parliament and State legislatures. It took the House two days, nine disruptions and the eviction of seven suspended MPs to achieve this, 14 years after it was originally proposed.

Of the votes polled, 186 were in favour of the bill and only one was against. Prime Minister Manmohan Singh as well as Ms Sonia Gandhi, Chairperson of the ruling United Progressive Alliance and Congress president, hailed the voting of the Bill.

Describing the Women’s Reservation Bill as a “giant step” towards the empowerment of women, Manmohan Singh said in the Rajya Sabha that the measure was not anti-minority or anti-Scheduled Caste/Scheduled Tribes.

The measure was stoutly opposed by a section of the opposition, though the main opposition parties, the Bharatiya Janata Party and the Left parties backed women’s reservation.

The Bill, pushed by the government despite the threat of withdrawal of support by Samajwadi Party and Rashtriya Janata Dal, was passed by a two-third majority, a day after it was moved in the House for consideration but could not be taken up because of unruly scenes, tearing of papers, near assault of the House presiding officer and snatching of mikes.

The Constitution (108th Amendment) Bill could get through with "unequivocal" support from the BJP and the 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 Upper House, did not participate in the voting. The Bill required the backing of at least 155 members and the UPA had the clear support of 165 in the run up to the event.

The Bill seeks to reserve for women 181 of the 543 seats in the Lok Sabha and 1,370 out of a total of 4,109 seats in the 28 State Assemblies. The Bahujan Samaj Party, having 12 members, walked out of the House saying the bill did not contain amendments suggested by it. JD(U), whose president Sharad Yadav is a staunch opponent of the Bill, appeared to have backed the Bill fully with most of its 7 members voting for it in response to the call by one of its senior leaders and Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar.

Manmohan Singh and Leader of Opposition Arun Jaitley described the measure as "momentous and historic".

The Rajya Sabha on Tuesday evening finally debated the Women's Reservation Bill. Amongst those who spoke were Bharatiya Janata Party's Arun Jaitley, Communist Party of India-Marxist's (CPI-M) Brinda Karat, Bahujan Samaj Party's Satish Mishra and Jayanthi Natarajan of Congress.

Jaitley said the privilege of supporting it had been diluted by "some of the most shameful incidents in India's parliamentary history". Brinda Karat, a vocal supporter of the Bill, said women's reservation in parliament and state legislatures would change the "culture of the country because women today are still caught in a culture prison. In the name of tradition, stereotypes are imposed and we have to fight these every day". Congress leader and spokesperson Jayanti Natarajan also refuted critics demanding a special quota for Dalit women, saying Dalits and tribals would continue to get reservation under the Bill.

A triumphant Natarajan said no other party "had the courage to deliver the promise (of reservation for women) to the people of India". She said Congress president Sonia Gandhi and Prime Minister Manmohan Singh had not lagged behind in supporting measures for women's empowerment.

However, Bahujan Samaj Party's Satish Mishra wanted the PM to reserve 50 percent of all seats in legislatures for women in line with their population ratio. The AIADMK's V. Maitreyan pointed out that the Bill was a great tribute to the Indian housewife who, he said, had proved to be better financial managers of the household "than all the finance ministers of India".

No threat to govt’s stability: Sonia

A jubilant Congress president Sonia Gandhi on Tuesday appeared to express confidence over the stability of the UPA government but wished former allies like SP and RJD were with it on the women's reservation Bill. She was asked if she was confident about the stability of the government in the wake of threats by SP and RJD of withdrawal of their support to the UPA government over the passage of the Bill. To a question on Trinamool Congress expressing reservations over the passage of the bill, she said all the parties in the UPA had welcomed the measure when it was brought in the Cabinet and she saw no problems within the UPA.

"Mamata Banerjee was quite enthusiastic. DMK has been for the bill and supported the Prime Minister fully. Pawar also fully supported it. Everyone has supported it,“ she said. Sonia Gandhi took a dig at RJD chief Lalu Prasad telling him in a lighter vein that he needed to be on the side of the Women’s Reservation Bill since he had seven daughters.

Lalu Prasad and Mulayam Singh Yadav have been the most prominent opponents of the Women’s Reservation Bill and they had a nearly 20-minute interaction with Ms. Gandhi in the House when it was adjourned.

RJD chief Lalu Prasad said he would hand over to the President on Wednesday a letter withdrawing support to the UPA government over the issue of Women’s Reservation Bill while SP supremo Mulayam Singh Yadav remained non-committal on the issue. Lalu told reporters that despite a request by Mulayam and himself to the Prime Minister during their meeting on Tuesday morning, the government went ahead with voting on the Bill. Lalu Prasad and Mulayam Singh Yadav were seated together in the Central Hall of Parliament glued to a TV watching the discussion and voting on the Reservation Bill when it began in the Rajya Sabha. The development of the government going in for the Bill in the Upper House appeared to have come as a bolt from the blue.

Seven members of Rajya Sabha belonging to SP, RJD, Lok Janshakti Party and an unattached MP were suspended on Tuesday for remaining part of the Budget session for their unruly behaviour in the House on Monday over the Women's Reservation Bill.

- Asian Tribune -