Govt unlikely to bring women`s quota bill in LS this session

New Delhi, Apr 18 (PTI) With political consensus missing
and the government facing hard times on some fronts, the
Women's Reservation Bill is unlikely to be brought in the Lok
Sabha this session, which concludes on May 7.
"Are we short of problems that we add one more to it,"
said a senior Congress leader and Union Minister when asked
whether the government was going ahead with the bill in the
Lok Sabha in this session.
He said there were no plans to bring the bill in the
remaining part of this session, underlining the fact that the
government's priority was to get the financial business passed
and desist from any fresh controversy.
The government had so far been saying that the bill would
be introduced in the Lok Sabha this session.
It has changed its opinion in view of differences among
leaders at an all-party meeting held earlier this month to
break the logjam over the bill and the Yadav trio declaring a
virtual war on the issue.
Mulayam Singh (SP), Lalu Prasad (RJD) and Sharad Yadav
(JD-U), staunch opponents to the Bill, are sticking to their
demand for quota within quota and UPA ally Trinamool Congress
has also joined the chorus.
The 21-member SP and four-member RJD are outside
supporters of the government and have threatened to withdraw
support if it went ahead with the bill.
Not only did consensus elude the meeting, RJD and SP
utilised the meeting of 13 parties to discuss price rise to
garner support for their cause.
The bill has taken a back seat in the government's scheme
of things in view of the BJP and the 13-party grouping brought
together by the Left parties planning to corner the government
on the price rise issue.
Left parties were on the side of the Congress as also the
BJP in the passage of the Constitutional amendment bill in the
Rajya Sabha.
The bill envisages 33 per cent quota for women in the Lok
Sabha and state assemblies. (More) PTI