Monday, Jun 16, 2003
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By Neena Vyas
Although the Government has not said this directly, some Bharatiya Janata Party leaders have informally suggested that the current bill be given the go-by and the Election Commission proposal to make it mandatory for registered political parties to select women candidates for one-third of the seats contested by them be adopted. The argument is that this could give Parliament more than 33 per cent women members as different parties would select women candidates in different constituencies. At the formal level, however, the BJP supports the bill in its present form. Political parties are also anxious to get over the hurdle of "rotation". Under the current bill, one-third of the seats every general election would be declared reserved for women, thus dislodging the male MPs of those constituencies, and since these reserved seats are to be rotated the elected women MPs themselves would have to contest for new constituencies every five years. The Election Commission proposal would effectively meet this negative factor while one more suggestion doing the rounds is to declare one-third of all Lok Sabha seats "double-member constituencies" which will elect at least one woman MP each. But this would mean raising the Lok Sabha's effective strength to around 726 members. Opposition to the bill is from both sides of the political divide — some Opposition parties as well as some in the National Democratic Alliance. Those opposing women's reservation most strongly are the Shiv Sena, the Samajwadi Party, the Rashtriya Janata Dal, the Samata Party, the Janata Dal (United) and some other smaller parties, while those who favour adopting the bill in its present form are the Congress, the Left, the AIADMK, the DMK, the Telugu Desam and the Bahujan Samaj Party. The CPI (M) has made it known that it will not support any proposal that will dilute the current bill. Ironically, the bill has enough support for a constitutional amendment but some party leaders have simply prevented its adoption by resorting to obstructionist tactics whenever it is taken up. Some party leaders have been trying to negotiate with the SP chief, Mulayam Singh Yadav, and there were reports that he may come around if the reservation quota is brought down to 15 to 20 per cent. Yet another demand is for a backward caste quota for women within the overall reservation. At the very end of the budget session the bill was taken up but abandoned quickly when it became clear that the needed constitutional amendment could not be passed amid chaotic scenes. The Parliamentary Affairs Minister, Sushma Swaraj, virtually declared it dead in its present form and the onus of establishing political "consensus" was shifted from the Government to that of the Speaker. Mr. Joshi has said he will not allow the views of his party, the Shiv Sena which is opposed to women's reservation, to come in the way of trying to find a consensus on this sensitive political issue which has defied resolution through three Lok Sabhas.
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