India’s ruling Congress party officials met yesterday to douse a political standoff over a contentious womens’ quota bill after two of its allies quit and left the government less elbow room to pass economic legislation.
After two days of acrimonious and chaotic scenes, the upper house of parliament voted overwhelmingly on Tuesday to pass an historic bill that would reserve a third of legislative seats for women. The bill is expected to be taken up by the lower house next week, where it is considered likely to pass, despite substantial opposition. It will also have to be approved by 15 of India’s 28 states before it becomes law.
Seven members of the upper house, the Rajya Sabha, were suspended after staging a sit-in protest against the proposed law. The bill angered two of Congress’ partners — the regional Samajwadi Party and Rashtriya Janata Dal — which began mobilizing support for a possible parliamentary vote against the government.
Though the Congress-led coalition still has a majority, the stand-off may prove a distraction for a government trying to push through key economic legislation, including the budget for 2010-2011.
“We do not have the numbers now, but we are in touch with other political parties and if the situation changes we may consider it,” Samajwadi chief Mulayam Singh Yadav said when asked if his party was considering bringing a “no-trust” vote against the government.
The women’s bill has also upset the Trinamool Congress party, one of the government’s most influential allies.
It abstained to protest at Congress’ handling of the bill and said it would do the same in the lower house. But the it has not spoken of leaving the coalition.
The bill has faced opposition since it was first proposed in 1996. Many politicians are worried that their male-dominated parties would lose seats to parties that have more women in their ranks. The principal objection of those blocking proceedings was that the bill does not go far enough and that a number of the women’s seats should be reserved for ethnic and religious minorities and people from low castes.
RSS