Paswan demands "subquota" for women of dalit, minority groups

The LJP on Sunday joined the bandwagon of parties opposing the Women's Reservation Bill in its present form and demanded provision for "sub-quota" for dalits, backwards and minorities.
 
"Such reservation should have provision for sub-quota for dalits, backwards and minorities. LJP would support changes to this effect in the proposed legislation for
reservation for women in parliament and state legislatures," party chief Ram Vilas Paswan told reporters here after chairing the national executive meeting of the party here.

The stand of the LJP, which could not open its account in the recent Lok Sabha elections and has just one Rajya Sabha MP, is in sync with the position taken by Samajwadi Party and RJD led by Lalu Prasad, which are also opposing the Bill in
its current format while demanding sub-quota for these sections.
 
Paswan's party, which adopted a resolution on the reservation issue on Sunday, had fought the last Lok Sabha election in alliance with the two parties. Paswan also sought an end to the use of Electronic Voting Machines (EVMs) in the elections and favoured reverting to the old system of polling through ballot papers.
 
"The US which had implemented EVM went back to ballot papers. In our 543-member parliament itself, EVM does not work properly. How will it work well for crores of voters? We came across lots of complaints about manipulation of EVM in elections and demand its discontinuance," he said.