New Delhi: Nearly 14 years after it was first introduced in Parliament, the keenly awaited Women's Reservation Bill was finally adopted by the Rajya Sabha on Tuesday amidst unprecedented tension and acrimony.
The motion was adopted with 186 lawmakers voting in favour of the Bill and just one vote against. Forty-six lawmakers belonging to the Samajwadi Party, Rashtriya Janata Dal, Bahujan Samaj Party and the Trinamool Congress abstained from voting.
"It is a historic step towards emancipation of womanhood in India," a satisfied Prime Minister Manmohan Singh said soon after the historic Bill was passed.
The Bill has just crossed the first hurdle before it can become a law since it requires to be adopted by the Lok Sabha as well as half of the 28 state legislative assemblies.
There is no word as yet on when the government intends to introduce it in the Lok Sabha in the wake of the uncertainty the controversial Bill has created over its stability.
In the process of getting the Bill passed, the Congress party-led coalition government has rubbed some of his allies and supporting parties the wrong way.
As the motion was being put to vote in the Rajya Sabha, Mulayam Singh Yadav and Lalu Prasad Yadav drove to the President's House to hand over to President Pratibha Patil a letter formally withdrawing support of their respective parties — Samajwadi Party and the Rashtriya Janata Dal — to the government. Together they have 25 lawmakers in the Lok Sabha.
Closed-door meeting
The day started with Prime Minister Singh having a closed-door meeting with his Congress party chief Sonia Gandhi, while the senior most minister Pranab Mukherjee held a meeting with the party floor managers to ensure the acrimonious scenes of Monday did not recur.
On Monday, a handful of unruly lawmakers opposing the Bill snatched papers from Rajya Sabha Chairman Mohammad Hamid Ansari, tore it into piece and tried to almost manhandle him.
While Singh and RJD chief Lalu personally apologised to Vice-President Ansari, seven lawmakers identified for Monday's unruly behaviour were suspended for the remaining part of the ongoing Budget session.
The suspended members are Subhash Yadav (RJD), Sabir Ali (Lok Janshakti Party), Veerpal Singh Yadav, Nand Kishore Yadav, Amir Alam Khan and Kamal Akhtar (all Samajwadi Party), and Ejaz Ali (independent).
"I owe you a profound apology for abnormal developments and for what happened in the House which should not have happened," Singh, who is also Leader of the House in the Rajya Sabha, told Chairman Ansari while replying to the debate that preceded formal voting.
Trinamool boycott
What must be worrying the government is the manner in which Railways Minister Mamata Banerjee party, the Trinamool Congress, boycotted voting.
Mamata termed the manner in which the Bill was being passed as bulldozing of democracy. She said she was upset as despite being the second largest constituent of the ruling coalition, her party was not consulted on the issue.
"We are not opposed to the Bill but the system which has been adopted. Any forceful attempt to pass the Bill can never be supported," senior Trinamool Congress leader Sudeep Bandopadhyay said.
Union Minister Dinesh Trivedi, also from the Trinamool Congress, however, clarified later that their party has no plans to break away from the ruling United Progressive Alliance.
