BSP not to support Women's Reservation Bill without changes

The Bahujan Samaj Party today said it would not support the Women's Reservation Bill if required amendents were not made in the proposed legislation before it was tabled in Parliament.
   
"Uttar Pradesh chief minister Mayawati has written a letter to prime minister pointing out that the BSP was not against reservation to women, but the bill requires some necessary amendments," senior party leader Satish Chandra Mishra told reporters here.

He said the BSP favoured a separate quota for the SC/ST women within the 33 per cent reservation proposed in the bill.
    
"The chief minister has pointed out that women of all sections in general and SC/ST in particular were socio-economically backward and they were lagging far behind in the field of politics," he said.

"The CM in her letter had said that to make women politically strong it was necessary that women of all sections of the society should get benefit of reservation," Mishra said.
   
He said Mayawati was of the view that this could only be achieved when along with SC/ST women separate reservation was made for women belonging to backward, religious minority and economically weaker sections among the upper caste.

"The CM has requested the Prime Minister that the proposed bill should be tabled in Parliament after making amendments as per the intentions of the BSP and the UP government," he said.
    
"If this is not done, our party will not support the bill in Parliament," Mishra said.
    
Mayawati has also opposed 33 per cent reservation to women out of the existing quota for SCs and STs in the Lok Sabha and state assemblies, he said.

"BSP and the state government does not agree with the proposal," he said, adding that separate provision should be made for SC/ST women within the proposed 33 per cent quota while maintaining the existing Constitutional reservation for them.