With the BJP in no mood to end its Coalgate protest, the government, though determined, will find it difficult to push through the bill providing reservation in promotions for SC/ST government employees in the Rajya Sabha on Thursday.
Parliamentary affairs minister Pawan Kumar Bansal said that the government will bring the bill in Rajya Sabha today even as his cabinet colleague Home Minister SushilKumar Shinde expressed reservations about the possibility of getting the bill cleared in the current session of Parliament, scheduled to end tomorrow.
The bill will provide reservation in promotions up to 22.5 per cent for SCs and STs in government jobs.
As it is a Constitution Amendment Bill, the Parliament has to pass it with 2/3rd majority – not possible without the support of the BJP. The party suspected foul play on the part of the government and said the bill’s introduction was aimed at taking away attention from lapses in the coal blocks allocation.
While BJP is yet to clear its stand on the issue, the SamajwadI Party has emerged as the principle opponent of the bill with party supremo terming it as unconstitutional.
In more trouble for the government, DMK chief M Karunanidhi has joined the cause and demanded that promotions quota benefit be extended to OBCs, a demand which has the support of the SP too.
However, Congress was undeterred, and issued a whip to its members asking them to be present in the House and vote for the bill.
The members of Bahujan Samaj Party, the SP’s rival in Uttar Pradesh, locked horns over the issue in the house.
An unprecedented scuffle erupted between BSP member Avatar Singh Karimpuri and Samajwadi MP Naresh Agrawal, forcing the adjournment of the house.