New Delhi, March 09 : With the main opposition refusing to budge on the Women’s Reservation Bill, Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh on Tuesday met UPA chairperson Sonia Gandhi to discuss strategy for the smooth passage of the bill in Rajya Sabha.
The meeting is also being attended by senior Congress leaders Pranab Mukherjee and Ahmed Patel. According to reports, Trinamool Congress chief Mamata Banerjee has also been summoned to attend the meeting.
The Prime Minister, after his meeting with Sonia Gandhi, is also scheduled to hold crucial discussions with Congress party MPs over the future of the Women’s Quota Bill.
Meanwhile, Digvijay Singh, the chief strategist of the Congress party, has reportedly met Trinamool Congress chief Mamata Banerjee and RJD chief Lalu Prasad Yadav.
Prime Minister’s meeting with Sonia Gandhi and Congress MPs holds significance in the wake of remaining deadlock over the clearance of the Women’s Quota Bill.
The meeting comes hours after Manmohan Singh’s meeting with the main opponents of the Women’s Reservation Bill Samajwadi Party leader Mulayam Singh Yadav, Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) chief Lalu Prasad and Janta Dal-U leader Sharad Yadav ended inconclusively as the trio remain firm on their stand demanding a quota within the quota for OBCs, Dalits and Minorities.
Coming out of 7 Race Course Road after meeting the PM, the Yadav trio said that they still firm on their stand and that they have asked the PM to defer the bill for now and convene an all-party meeting to build consensus over the provisions of the bill.
RJD chief Lalu Yadav said, “We are not against reservation for women. But we have asked the Prime Minister to convene an all-party meeting to discuss the bill and quotas. We are concerned about the most deprived Muslim women, dalit women, those living in the tribal areas and the women from scheduled caste and scheduled tribes.”
JD-U president Sharad Yadav chipped in with: “We have apprised the Prime Minister about our differences on the proposed Women’s Quota Bill. We have pushed for an all-party meeting to end the deadlock on the issue.”
On the other hand, the government appears desperate to push through the bill at all costs. The PM’s initiative to get the Yadavs rethink on the issue is also part of the all out effort by the government to ensure that the bill gets passed in the Parliament.
The bill- brought in to coincide with the International Women’s Day – also has the strong backing of UPA chairperson Sonia Gandhi and is now a prestige issue for the government.
But, in view of the threat by Mulayam and Lalu to withdraw support to the UPA (the government will be still in majority but only with a wafer-thin majority), it remains to be seen how far the government is willing to go in pushing for the bill even if it is at the cost of jeopardizing its safety during the Parliament’s Budget Session.
—–Agencies