Congress hails Nitish Kumar's statement favouring women's bill

Congress today hailed the statement of Bihar chief minister Nitish Kumar favouring the passage of Women Reservation Bill and hoped that others opposed to the legislation would also modify their views in its favour.

"Congress welcomes the statement of Nitish Kumar. We hope that other parties and leaders who are opposing the Bill will also modify their views and support the Bill sooner or later as it is a just cause," party spokesperson Shakeel Ahmed said.

His reaction came after Kumar said in Patna, "When I was a member of the Joint Parliamentary Committee, I had given a
dissent note (more than a decade ago). Now the time has come
to give women reservation in Lok Sabha and State Assemblies.
I will talk to Sharadji and appeal to him to ensure passage of
the bill."

JD-U president Sharad Yadav is, however, maintaining the party's opposition to the Bill in its present form. 

Ahmed, however, said, "Congress is emotionally attached to the Bill, the process for which was initiated by late Rajiv Gandhi. Party chief Sonia Gandhi has accorded highest priority to it. We welcome anybody, who supports it and are hopeful that its opponents will come around as the bill seeks to empower one of the most deprived sections of our society." 

He also expressed confidence that the Bill would be passed by the Rajya Sabha.