Pranab placates Yadav trio, Mamata on women’s bill

On a day that intra-party rumblings threatened to drown the euphoria over the Women’s Reservation Bill, the government provided breathing space to major political parties by taking a conciliatory position on the issue. The government made it clear on Thursday that it would table the bill in the Lok Sabha only after consultations with all parties.

Finance minister Pranab Mukherjee played peace-maker and appeared to have done enough to placate the die-hard opponents of the bill: Lalu Prasad, Mulayam Singh and Sharad Yadav.

The government has also decided to call an all-party meeting, in addition to consulting stakeholders, before putting up the bill before the Lok Sabha for voting. The bill has to be passed by the lower house and at least half the states before it becomes law.

“Before bringing the bill in the Lok Sabha, the government will complete the process of consultation with all sections in the house,” Mukherjee announced in Parliament.

With this, the government has bought itself time before the passage of the crucial finance bill (budget). The government’s placatory move suits both the supporters as well as the opponents of the bill —the Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD), the Samajwadi Party (SP) and the Janata Dal (U). The government has also calmed the Trinamool Congress, which was exerting pressure for an all-party meeting and deferment of the bill.

The decision also saves the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) embarrassment. Over the last two days, since the women’s bill was rammed through in the Rajya Sabha, many of its MPs have been vocal in their opposition to the party’s decision to back it.

Now that the bill has been put off, it will provide the BJP leadership time to pacify them. Senior party leader Sushma Swaraj, meanwhile, has made it clear that the party would issue a whip again when the bill comes up for voting in the Lok Sabha.

The bickering over the bill has left the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA) a divided house. Besides Sharad Yadav’s JD(U), it has to contend with allies like the Shiv Sena. The Sena opposes the bill in its present form though the party had voted in its favour in the Rajya Sabha.