New Delhi, April 12 (Inditop.com) The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) Monday said it would not accept the demand for the quotas within the women’s quota and it is up to the government to decide when the women’s reservation bill is introduced in the Lok Sabha.
“We don’t accept a quota within the quota. Separate reservation within the 33 percent women’s reservation… we don’t subscribe to it,” BJP spokesman Ramnath Kovind told Inditop, in reply to a question if there is any change in party’s stand after the party’s deputy leader in Lok Sabha Gopinath Munde voiced support in favour of a quota for other backward classes (OBCs).
“Our party’s stand is very clear. We are committed to pass the bill in the present form,” Kovind said.
After a convention of OBC leaders in Mumbai Saturday, Munde said that he would take up the demand for an OBC quota within 33 percent reservation for women at the party forums. The BJP had already said that Munde’s remarks should be seen in context of his presence at an OBC meeting.
“There is need to understand the context as he (Munde) was attending an OBC meeting. His remarks were in the spirit of discussions at the meeting,” BJP spokesperson Nirmala Sitharaman told IANS.
Meanwhile, Kovind said that it is not up to the BJP to decide when the bill will be introduced in the Lok Sabha.
“It is up to the government to decide. Whenever the government take the initiative to introduce the bill in the house, we will support it,” he said, when asked whether the party wanted to get the bill passed by the Lok Sabha in the second part of the budget session commencing Thursday.
The bill providing 33 percent reservation for women in the Lok Sabha and state assemblies was passed amid uproar in the Rajya Sabha last month. The bill is opposed by the Samajwadi Party, Rashtriya Janata Dal, Lok Janshakti Party, Bahujan Samaj Party and a section of the Janata Dal-United, who seek quotas for minorities, Dalits and backward classes.
There is apprehension about the future of the bill with the Trinamool Congress, a key ally in the Congress-led ruling coalition, joining the parties demanding quota within quota.
