M Venkaiah Naidu’s ‘excuse’ on Women’s Reservation Bill draws flak

This is one excuse that the Bharatiya Janata Party can’t easily get away with. Union Minister M Venkaiah Naidu drew flak from all corners for his remark that the BJP-led government would pass the Women's Reservation Bill when it gets a majority in the Rajya Sabha.

Addressing the National Women's Parliament in Amaravati, Andhra Pradesh on Friday, M Venkaiah Naidu had said: “Prime Minister Narendra Modi has this in mind and the day is not far when Parliament will pass the law providing women reservation through consensus. Once we (BJP) get majority in Rajya Sabha, we will get the Bill passed.” But is the lack of a BJP majority in the Upper House really the main hurdle?

“This is just a gimmick. The BJP has a lack of commitment to this issue,” says Congress Spokesperson Priyanka Chaturvedi, adding, “If the BJP was serious about the issue, they could have easily passed the Bill in the Lok Sabha first, where they enjoy a majority by themselves.”

The Women’s Reservation Bill was introduced by the UPA government in 2008. As it’s a Constitutional amendment, Article 368 mandates that the Bill should be first “passed in each House by a majority of the total membership of that House present and voting.” In March 2010, the UPA managed to get it passed in the Rajya Sabha, but with the 15th Lok Sabha not having taken up the Bill, it lapsed when the House was dissolved in 2014. The Bill seeks to reserve one-third of all seats for women in the Lok Sabha and state legislative assemblies. It also provides for a quota-within-quota of one third seats reserved for women belonging to Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes.

“The Bill is very important for the emancipation of women. We support 33% reservation for women and also the further reservation under reservation. However, it is not enough. Many more things should be done,” says Kavita Krishnan, Secretary, All India Progressive Women’s Association (AIPWA).

“We have been always for the Bill and even got it passed back in the Upper House in 2010. If they tabled it in the Rajya Sabha, why wouldn’t we support it?” says Chaturvedi.

Nationalist Congress Party leader Supriya Sule, who represents the Baramati Lok Sabha constituency, also has a similar take: Get the Bill passed in the Lok Sabha first and then manage a consensus among all parties in the Rajya Sabha. “All they have to do is to talk to the NCP, Congress and Trinamool Congress to easily get the numbers. They don't need a BJP majority in the Rajya Sabha for that,” says Sule.

Out of a total strength of 245 members in the Rajya Sabha, the Congress has 60 seats; the BJP has 56; and NCP and Trinamool have 5 and 11 respectively. That is, if these four parties come together on this issue, they will easily have 132 votes to pass the Bill, making Naidu’s excuse that BJP has to wait to get a majority of its own ring hollow.

Reservation of seats for women is not new to the Indian polity. The 73rd and 74th Amendments to the Constitution provides for one-third seats for women in the panchayats and municipalities. In fact, about 16 states have upped the quotas in panchayats to 50%. The NDA government talked of extending this to the entire country in both the rural and urban local bodies. But, the Lok Sabha and state assemblies are a different ball game, and there has been much opposition to the Bill within several parties, including the BJP.

Commenting on Naidu’s remarks, CPI(M) leader Subhasini Ali said she doesn’t think the BJP is sincere about the issue at all. “The BJP is ideologically against the idea of freedom of women… They are proposing ‘Anti-Romeo Squads’ in their manifesto for the UP election. That shows their mentality,” she says. In its Uttar Pradesh election manifesto that reeks of communal overtones, the BJP talks of creating ‘Anti-Romeo Dals (or squads)’ near colleges to “ensure the safety of college-going girls” and to “check eve-teasing”.

“Let them table it in the House first, we will see then,” says Ali. So what is stopping the BJP from tabling a Bill which enjoys majority support in both Houses of Parliament? That is the multi-crore, remonetised rupee question.