Opposition hijacks Women's Bill
The controversy-dogged Women's Reservation Bill on Monday fell
victim to the unparliamentary ways of Indian parliamentarians.
Though scheduled to be introduced in the Lok Sabha this morning, it was
lost to sight, and hearing, when the Opposition -- namely,
the Rashtriya Janata Dal, the Samajwadi and certain
other parties -- started
violent agitation, which culminated with
RJD member Surinder Yadav snatching away the copies of the Bill
from Speaker G M C Balayogi and Law Minister M Thambidurai.
This, naturally, lead to more
pandemonium, prompting the speaker to adjourn the House for the day.
Surinder Yadav's over-zealousness to
stall the Bill, which seeks a constitutional amendment -- the
84th -- to provide 33 per cent reservation to women in the
Lok Sabha and state legislative assemblies, occurred towards the end of the
proceedings -- after five adjournments,
around 1730 hours, to be
precise.
When the House met then, the government was all
set to introduce the legislation. But members of the
Samajwadi Party, RJD, Bahujan Samaj Party, National
Conference and Indian Union Muslim League stormed
the well of the
House, raising slogans and bringing the
proceedings to a full stop.
As Balayogi entered the House
amidst this noisy scene, Surinder Yadav snatched
the copy of the Bill kept on his
podium. When the speaker called the
law minister to introduce the
Bill, the RJD member rushed and repeated
his performance.
The ruling party members, who by then were on their feet, also
rushed to the well, protesting against Surinder Yadav's
conduct. What followed was a free-for-all.
The speaker, after watching the heated exchanges for some time, called it day.
Even after the adjournment, tension prevailed as agitated
members continued to remain in the
House. One member was heard comparing
the Bihar assembly happenings with the just-ended event.
Another was seen throwing away the agenda
papers of the House.
Former prime minister Chandra Shekhar, meanwhile, could
be seen trying
to pacify agitated members of both sides and requesting them to leave the scene.
Talking to newsmen later, the speaker condemned the
incidents and promised severe
action against the culprits. He said the House marshal
has already supplied some
names. Besides, he would be viewing the
video films of the proceedings, following which 'appropriate action' would be taken
against the culprits in consultation with the
Lok Sabha secretariat.
Asked whether the Bill would be introduced
on Tuesday, Balyogi said it would be decided
after meeting with major political leaders.
Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee, for his part, described
the incident as a 'shameful act', which sounded danger
to the country's democracy.
Instead of preventing
the introduction of the Bill by using force, an anguished Vajpayee told the press
soon after the final adjournment, the Opposition should have allowed it to be
tabled and attempted to push through
their suggestions during debate.
Before the House met, Home Minister L K Advani had a word with
Leader of Opposition Sharad Pawar, presumably as an
insulation towards any unbecoming incident. Pawar, after this, was
seen in animated discussions with RJD
chief Laloo Prasad Yadav and SP leader Mulayam Singh Yadav.
Pawar, it was noticed, did not report back to Advani.
Earlier in the day, Balayogi had two rounds of talks with
the leaders of Opposition in a bid to arrive at a
solution. They, including Chandra Shekhar,
H D Devegowda, Laloo Yadav, Mulayam Singh and
Congress leaders Shiv Shankar, Rajesh Pilot and Natwar
Singh, met in Pawar's chambers.
The Congress leaders were also in touch with
their president Sonia Gandhi.
UNI
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