Women's bill tabled in RS amidst high drama

Amid high drama and scuffles between members, a resolute government introduced a Bill providing for reservation of one-third of seats for women in Parliament and state legislatures, in the Rajya Sabha on Tuesday.

With Congress parliamentarians providing protective cover, Law Minister H R Bhardwaj introduced the controversial Bill in the midst of Samajwadi Party members trying to snatch its copies from the hands of the Minister.

SP members stormed the well soon after the House resumed at noon in an apparent attempt to stall introduction of the Bill, which they have been opposing along with Janata Dal-United.

However, the disruptions that included raising of slogans against MNS chief Raj Thackeray could not dissuade the government from going ahead and introducing The Constitution (108th amendment) Bill 2008, which was cleared by the Union Cabinet on Monday night.

As agitated SP member Abu Asim Azmi and his party colleagues tried to snatch the Bill copy from Bhardwaj, Congress members intervened and Women and Child Development Minister Renuka Chaudhary repulsed the attempts by pushing Azmi away.

Expecting trouble, Bharadwaj was seated in the middle row of the treasury benches flanked by two women ministers -- Kumari Selja and Ambika Soni. On top of it, Congress women parliamentarians Jayanti Natarajan and Alka Balram Kshatriya guarded Bharadwaj from SP members who had taken the position for the go.

Top leaders, including Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and Leader of Opposition Jaswant Singh, were witness to the high drama. Several Lok Sabha lawmakers were also seated in the gallery. 

"Take back the Women's Reservation Bill" was among the slogans raised by the SP members from the well of the Rajya Sabha.

They were supported by JD-U members, who were on their feet.

Even as the din continued, P J Kurien, who was in the chair, asked ministers and members to lay the papers listed against their names. Hell broke loose immediately after the completion of the paper laying process as Kurien called the Law Minister to introduce the Bill.

As soon as the government managed to introduce the Bill, the chair adjourned the House till 1400 hours.

Different governments since 1996 have tried to get the Women's Reservation Bill passed without success. It was one of the main promises in the National Common Minimum Programme of the UPA government as well. However, the Manmohan Singh government could not secure political consensus among the UPA partners, notably the Rashtriya Janata Dal. The BJP and Left favoured the measure aimed at women's empowerment.

The main objection from the SP, JD-U as also the RJD related to their demand for quota within quota.

The latest attempt comes in the last year of the tenure of the UPA government, which has managed to see through some of the flagship programmes like the RTI, NREGA as also the OBC quota in higher educational institutions.