Other major opponent of the bill, the Samajwadi Party, has said that it will issue a whip to its members tomorrow to oppose the bill in its present form in Parliament.
Amid divisions in the JD(U) on the issue of support to Women's Reservation Bill, the party has called a meeting of all its MPs tomorrow to formulate a final view on the issue.
Party leaders in private, however, dropped broad hints that it might support the bill, indications to which were given by chief minister Nitish Kumar yesterday when he said that now time has come to provide reservation to women in Lok Sabha and state assemblies.
Party leader Sharad Yadav has expressed his opposition to the bill in its present form.
A senior party leader, on condition of anonymity, said that the party is likely to accept Kumar's view point on the issue, "although nothing final can be said at this juncture".
His remarks assume significance as JD(U), which has seven MPs in Rajya Sabha and 20 in Lok Sabha, is yet to make up its mind on whether to issue any whip to its MPs on the issue, though the party has been opposing the bill in its present form for more than a decade.
Other major opponent of the bill, the Samajwadi Party, has said that it will issue a whip to its members tomorrow to oppose the bill in its present form in Parliament.
Asked about the controversy, chief whip of JD(U) in Rajya Sabha Ali Anwar said "it is true that two different opinons have come on the issue. Hence, we have called a meeting of MPs at party leader Sharad Yadav's residence tomorrow where we will discuss and reach a final conclusion."
Anwar said that the party will take a decision keeping in mind the interest of the "country, people and situation of the day".
Asked why the party has not issued a whipon the matter, he said it was not necessary to always issue whip "to force MPs".
"Just because BJP and Congress have issued whip, it does not mean that we should also do the same."
JD(U) leaders said the MPs will not abstain from voting. "It will be either this way or that way," he said.
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