RS passes Women’s Bill; Yadavs plan no-confidence motion against govt
2010-03-10 [10:51:00 hrs] | |  | Enraged leaders of the Opposition, including RJD chief lalu Prasad yadav and Samajwadi Party chief Mulayam Singh Yadav are likely to bring in a no-confidence motion against the government today after the contentious Women’s Reservation Bill was passed throuhg the Rajya Sabha on Tuesday. |
| | | According to reports, the Yadavs are incensed by the way in which the bill won the vote in the upper house despite the vociferous opposition. Apparently, they are also angry at the way their MPs were suspended from the Rajya Sabha and forcefully removed from the house just before the voting.
The Yadav duo needs 50 MPs to sign the notice to move the no-confidence motion for Speaker Meira Kumar to accept it.
In fact, Mulayam and Lalu have announced that they will hand their letters to the President today, withdrawing support to the UPA (United Progressive Alliance).
‘It is not about who is in majority. The government has acted in a stubborn manner. Samajwadi party has always supported reservation for women but we wanted a quota within the quota,’ Mulayam Singh Yadav was quoted as saying.
The two parties have pledged to continue their tirade against the UPA government over issues like price rise and cheating Muslim women, those who fall in SC-ST category and women living in tribal regions.
The two parties have also threatened to launch a nationwide agitation against what they believe to be Congress party’s autocratic rule.
The Yadav duo have reportedly contacted the top leaders of BJP, Rashtriya Lok Dal (RLD) led by Ajit Singh, former prime minister and Janata Dal (Secular) supremo HD Deve Gowda, Shiv Sena and the Akali Dal.
However, the no-confidence motion is unlikely to get the support of other opposition parties, especially the BJP and the Left as they had voted in favour of the bill.
According to BJP insiders, the party thinks that it would be too early to bring a no-confidence motion against the UPA govt.
Political observers also opine that BJP will not support the Yadavs on the issue as it is aware of the political benefits they will reap if they succeed in bringing down the ruling coalition led by the Congress party.
The two opposition parties decided to withdraw their support to the UPA Government after their demands for having sub quotas within the quotas for SC, ST and tribal women were not accepted by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and Congress chief Sonia Gandhi.
Both RJD and Samajwadi Party have been opposing the 108th Constitution Amendment Bill (Women’s Reservation Bill) in its present form which seeks to reserve 33 per cent of the seats in the Lok Sabha and the state assemblies for women. They are pitching for a quota within the quota for women from OBC, Dalit and minority communities.
If the Bill is passed by the Lok Sabha and at least 50 per cent of the states then 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 will be reserved for women.
The Rajya Sabha on Tuesday evening passed the Bill with 186 votes in favour and one against.
|
|
