New Delhi: The Congress on Wednesday said RJD chief
Lalu Prasad did not give any dissent note to the Women's
Reservation Bill despite being a member of the Parliamentary
Committee concerned, which went into the measure.
Party sources said Prasad, who has now been crying hoarse
over the Bill, which provides for 33 percent reservation to
women in Lok Sabha and Assemblies, had attended only one
meeting of the Committee.
"Only two members from Samajwadi Party, Virendra Bhatia
and Shailendra Kumar, gave a note for reducing the quota from
33 percent to 20 percent," a party leader said.
Meanwhile, at the AICC briefing, Congress spokesperson
Jayanti Natarajan said the Women's Reservation Bill will not
be diluted and it will be brought and passed in Lok Sabha in
its original form.
"We are fully confident that all our allies will be with
us and the Women's Reservation Bill will be passed in Lok
Sabha," she said, ruling out any reduction in the quota despite
NCP suggesting that a reduction could lead to a consensus.
To a question whether the party is confident of passing
the Bill in its original form without introducing quota within
quota, Natarajan said, "Obviously. We will be able to get the
women’s Bill passed... we want to pass it in the same format."
She said the Standing Committee on the Bill had considered
all aspects and came to the conclusion that the Bill should be
passed as it is, as trying to introduce any change will lead
to further delays.
She also said the party, as of now, is of the view that
the "Bill should be passed by Lok Sabha in the same form in
which it has been passed by Rajya Sabha".
PTI
First Published: Wednesday, March 17, 2010, 20:41