Politics
Women quota bill: BSP, JD-S indicate reservations
New Delhi, March 7 (IANS) Even as Samajwadi Party (SP) and Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) Sunday launched fresh attacks on the women’s reservation bill in its present form, two other parties — the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) and Janata Dal-Secular (JD-S) also indicated that they were not in full agreement.
JD-S chief H.D. Dewe Gowda said that his party was not against reservation for women but would push for a quota for backward classes. The JD-S has two members in the Rajya Sabha, where the bill is slated to come up for discussion and vote Monday.
The BSP has called a meeting of its MPs Monday morning to decide the party’s strategy during debate on the bill. The legislation seeks to reserve 33 percent seats in the Lok Sabha and state assemblies for women.
BSP sources said the party is likely to demand a separate quota for Dalits within 33 percent quota for women. The party has 12 members in the Rajya Sabha.
Speaking in Patna, RJD chief Lalu Prasad said that the bill was “a big mistake” and appealed to MPs from the Congress and the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) not to vote for the legislation.
He said no country in the world had such provisions of reservation for women. The RJD, which has four members in the upper house of parliament, has already issued a whip to its members to vote against the bill.
Samajwadi Party president Mulayam Singh Yadav said in Lucknow that the bill was “anti-Muslim” and “anti-Dalit” and will restrict chances of members of these communities getting elected to legislatures. The SP has 11 members in the Rajya Sabha.
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2010-03-07-22:13:56
