The Hindu : Unanimity claimed and contested on Women's Bill

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Wednesday, Jul 16, 2003

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Unanimity claimed and contested on Women's Bill

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The CPI (M) leader, Somnath Chatterjee (right), and the Samajwadi Party supremo, Mulayam Singh Yadav, at the meeting convened by the Lok Sabha Speaker, Manohar Joshi, on the Women's Reservation Bill, in New Delhi on Tuesday.

New Delhi July 15. The claim was made today by the Bharatiya Janata Party spokesman, V.K. Malhotra, that a "near-consensus" had been reached at a meeting today on increasing the number of seats in the Lok Sabha and the State Assemblies — by way of having double-member constituencies — to provide for 33 per cent reservation for women.

But the Communist Party of India (Marxist) immediately questioned such a claim.

There was no official word on the exact proposals discussed at the meeting of political parties convened by the Lok Sabha Speaker, Manohar Joshi, to discuss the controversial Women's Reservation Bill eluding a consensus for long.

Leaders of the BJP, the Congress, the CPI(M) and the Samajwadi Party attended the meeting to find a way to end the impasse ahead of the monsoon session of Parliament beginning next week.

The Speaker did not specify the proposals discussed. However, to a pointed question whether there was agreement on the proposal of double-member constituencies, he said this was one of the points on which there was consensus. There was unanimity that women should be given reservation and that it should be achieved through consensus, he said.

But the CPI(M) leader, Somnath Chatterjee, denied there was any agreement. "I wish to categorically say that there was no occasion for me to accept the proposal except to state that as and when they are presented in proper form, the same will be considered on merits."

Mr. Chatterjee and the Deputy Leader of the Congress in the Lok Sabha, Shivraj Patil, made it clear that they were against dilution of 33 per cent reservation for women, while the Samajwadi Party leader, Mulayam Singh Yadav, suggested reduction of the percentage to 20.

Both the CPI(M) and the Congress appeared to keep the door open for the new proposals, saying that when they came up formally they would react.

Mr. Chatterjee said the Bill was pending for a long time and the credibility of Parliament as an institution had been seriously called into question because of the "unreasoned delay and procrastination" on the part of the ruling party. "There should not be any further delay," he added.

Later, the Lok Sabha Secretariat, in a press release, said that "different proposals" were considered at the meeting which included the passing of the Bill in its present form, the Election Commission's proposal requiring all parties to put up the minimum agreed percentage of women candidates in elections, to having double-member constituencies and increasing the strength of the House.

"All leaders endeavoured to reach a common ground. Mr. Malhotra was requested to convey to the Government to prepare the draft of a Bill which could, as far as possible, be acceptable to all parties," it said.

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