Published & Updated as on - 2010-03-08
The
landmark women's reservation bill was tabled in the Rajya Sabha by Law Minister
Veerappa Moily amidst ruckus by Opposition parties. Both houses of Parliament were
adjourned following an uproar over reservations for women and minorities. The
Rajya Sabha was adjourned for a third time when Opposition members disrupted
the tabling of the bill by snatching the bill from the Speaker's hand and
tearing it.
The Lok Sabha was adjourned earlier following
protests by the Samajwadi Party, Bahujan Samaj Party and Rashtriya Janata Dal
against the Women's Reservation Bill. The SP and RJD have also withdrawn their
support to the UPA government.
Earlier in the day in the Rajya Sabha, Samajwadi
Party members demanded that question hour be suspended to discuss, ahead of the
women's reservation bill, the Ranganath Mishra report that has recommended
quota for Dalit Muslims and Christians.
In the Lok Sabha, SP chief Mulayam Singh Yadav
and RJD president Lalu Prasad joined their party MPs in raising slogans as the
speaker tried to continue the question hour amid the din.
Some SP and BSP MPs tried to disrupt the
proceedings by gathering near the speaker's podium. The MPs from the three parties
demanded that the bill should ensure a 'quota within the quota' for women from
backward classes.
At
one stage, Mulayam Singh had a verbal spat with Finance Minister Pranab
Mukherjee, the leader of the house. A desperate Mukherjee appealed to Mulayam
Yadav with folded hands to end the disruption.Janata Dal-United (JD-U) leader
Sharad Yadav, one of the bitterest critics of the bill, was not present in the
house. Parliamentary Affairs Minister Pawan Kumar Bansal and his deputy V
Narayanasamy also tried to pacify Mulayam Singh and Lalu Prasad but failed.
Unable to bring peace, the speaker adjourned the
house at 11.20 am. The protests started soon after the speaker welcomed special
guests from the Croatian parliament to watch the house proceedings from a special
box and made a reference to the international women's day Monday.
In the Rajya Sabha, Chairman Hamid Ansari read
out a message on the international Women's Day saying that among others 'women
have to be included in the decision making process' when the house assembled at
11 am.
As soon as he finished, Kamal Akhtar and other
SP members were on their feet demanding that the report of the National
Commission for Religious and Linguistic Minorities headed by Justice (retd)
Ranganath Misra be discussed ahead of the women's reservation bill that is
scheduled to be taken for consideration and passing later in the day.
Ansari ruled it out on the ground that no notice
had been served for this. As a handful of SP members advanced to towards the
chairman's podium, Ansari adjourned the house.
The Women's Reservation Bill will provide 33 per
cent reservation of women in Parliament and the State Assemblies. Supporting
the Bill, the Congress and the BJP issued whips to their members to remain
present in the House to support the Bill.
The Left and allies of both the ruling and
opposition like NCP, TDP, DMK, AIADMK, Akali Dal, BJD and National Conference
have pledged support to the bill.
The Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD), the Samajwadi
Party (SP) and the Bahujan Samaj Party have decided to oppose the bill in its
present form.
Parliamentary
Affairs Minister P K Bansal had appealed to all political parties to support
the bill, which has been waiting for passage into law for more than a decade.
Source: in.news.yahoo.com 8/3/10 |