Mulayam, Sharad and Lalu against women reservation bill

Mulayam, Sharad and Lalu breathe fire against government plan to introduce bill

Twenty-four hours after parliamentary affairs minister Priyaranjan Dasmunshi announced that the government would introduce the women’s reservation bill in Parliament, the move has run into trouble in the Hindi heartland.

After a UPA-Left meeting on Wednesday night, Dasmunshi announced the government’s resolve to introduce the bill, providing 33 per cent reservation for women in Parliament and state legislatures.

However, the railways minister and Rashtriya Janata Dal chief Lalu Prasad Yadav, Uttar Pradesh chief minister and Samajwadi Party chief Mulayam Singh Yadav and Janata Dal (United) president Sharad Yadav have decided to oppose the bill in its present form.

Mulayam Singh Yadav said, “With 33 per cent seats reserved for women and another 17 per cent for SCs, upper castes and backwards would only have 50 per cent seats to contest. Therefore, the Bill in its present form is dangerous.”

Though Lalu agreed to the introduction of the bill, thanks to pressure from Congress president Sonia Gandhi and Left parties, he changed track on Thursday due to a revolt in his party.

Taking a U-turn, Lalu accompanied by a team of his party MPs met external affairs minister Pranab Mukherjee and expressed reservation. The RJD chief demanded an all-party meeting.

Talking to DNA, Sharad Yadav said his party would not allow the introduction of the bill. Yadav said the promise of the government to send the bill to a standing committee was a “ruse” to get it passed. “First, they will have to ensure a quota for weaker and backward sections of women. This (legislation) is being done to benefit the creamy layer Mahilas,” Yadav said.

Asserting that the SP was against the bill in its current form, Mulayam said, “We are in favour of reservation for women. But it should be at the most 20 per cent and not 33 per cent as suggested in the bill,” he said.