No consensus at all-party meeting on Women’s Reservation Bill

June 22, 2011 | National News | Written by

New Delhi, June 22: An all party meeting on the Women’s Reservation Bill ended here with Lok Sabha Speaker Meira Kumar saying that further consultations would continue to arrive at a consensus on the bill.

Talking to reporters after meeting, Kumar said she would soon convene another meeting to discuss the issue, as some changes were still needed in the Bill.

The Samajwadi Party (SP) and the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP), known detractors of the Bill, skipped the meeting.

Among the leaders, who attended the meeting were Finance minister Pranab Mukherjee, senior BJP leaders L K Advani and Sushma Swaraj, DMK leader T R Baalu, Trinamool leader Sudip Bandopadhya, CPM leader Basudev Acharia, National Conference leader Farooq Abdullah and JD (U) leader Ram Sunder Das.

The Speaker had, in a letter sent to political parties earlier, asked them to take steps for the early passage of the Bill in the Lok Sabha.

The Bill, which grants 33 per cent reservation for women in the Lok Sabha and State Assemblies was passed by the Rajya Sabha after two days of high drama in March 2010.

The Constitution (108th Amendment) Bill has been hanging fire for close to 14 years due to the lack of a political consensus on the issue.

It was first drafted by the H.D. Deve Gowda-led United Front Government and introduced in Parliament in September 1996. (ANI)