Trinamool Congress chief Mamata Banerjee on Wednesday defended her party’s decision to abstain from voting on the Women’s Reservation Bill in the Rajya Sabha but said she was in favour of the Constitutional amendment.
“Our party is committed to the Bill. We will do it,” she told reporters outside Parliament.
But at the same time, she was critical of the “communication gap” before the Bill was put to vote in Rajya Sabha on Tuesday. “In Rajya Sabha we have two members. We were not informed... there was communication gap,” she said.
She said during a meeting of allies with Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, it was decided that an all party meeting would be called, where her party could also raise the issue of including minorities in women’s reservation. “But no (all party) meeting was called later. We had no information,” Ms. Banerjee said.
She also said her party has repeatedly asked for quota for women in Rajya Sabha. On Tuesday, Trinamool MP Dinesh Trivedi had said his party chief wanted the views of the Dalits, OBCs and Muslims to be taken on board. “But unfortunately that did not happen. Trinamool Congress is for debate and discussion,” he had said.
