New Delhi: BJP and Left parties, which had
committed their support to the Women`s Reservation Bill, today
slammed the government, saying it lacked strategy and had
developed cold feet on the issue after SP and RJD threatened
to withdraw support.
Both BJP and CPI(M) said the government should have
convened an all-party meeting on the issue earlier.
"I go back today evening with a distinct impression that
the intention of the government is suspect. This government
has developed cold feet," Leader of Opposition in Rajya Sabha
Arun Jaitley said after meeting Prime Minister Manmohan Singh.
Singh had called him and Leader of the Opposition in Lok
Sabha Sushma Swaraj to discuss the fate the bill in the wake
of strident opposition by SP and RJD.
Jaitley said the bill is not likely to be passed
"unless something spectacular happens tomorrow".
He referred to threat of withdrawal of outside support by
SP and RJD, saying, "It is obvious the government majority is
shaky and this weak government is lacking in will-power."
When it was pointed out that Law Minister Veerappa Moily
has assured that the Bill will come up for discussion
tomorrow, Jaitley said government may have listed it only as a
formality but it was clear from its attitude that it has lost
steam and is back-tracking despite opposition support.
"The government is shivering and has become nervous... It
has no strategy to see passage of the bill," he said.
CPI(M) Rajya Sabha MP Brinda Karat said that "it was
shameful and unfortunate that the bill could not be cleared on
the occasion of the International Women`s Day," and blamed the
government`s lack of strategy on it.
"It is a shame on the government that it could not get it
done today. It had the numbers with it and even the opposition
was supporting it. The Prime Minister should have convened the
all-party meeting on the issue earlier," Karat said.
Swaraj said BJP was both "dejected and disappointed" with
the government failure to steer the Bill and for lacking in
strategic floor management to get it passed.
She said they had told the Prime Minister that BJP was
ready to vote for the bill even at midnight but after a
thorough debate.
Jaitley said passing such an important legislation
without discussion was not possible as it was a "question of
the legitimacy of the Bill and Parliament, and this would be
akin to making a mockery of Parliament".
Minister for Information and Broadcasting Ambika Soni,
however, defended the government, saying that "the Centre does
not believe in a ham-handed approach" on the issue.
"We wanted a discussion on the bill in Rajya Sabha but
the opposition parties behaved in an unruly manner", she said.
She said "the unfinished agenda of today (of the bill`s
passage) has been listed for tomorrow".
Soni said that the government never tried to take credit
for introducing the bill in Rajya Sabha.
"We never tried to score brownie points. We always said
that it has been joint effort by all the parties," she said.
PTI
