New Delhi: The Women's Reservation Bill is off to a rocky start yet again. Senior Congress sources have told NDTV that as a possible compromise formula, the quota for women could be cut from 33 per cent to just 20 per cent to increase support for the bill.
The move comes in the face of stiff opposition from the Yadavs in Parliament who want a quota for OBCs within the quota.
Speaking in Parliament, RJD chief Lalu Yadav said that the number of seats in Parliament should be increased in order to accommodate women.
SP chief Mulayam Singh Yadav has already voiced his opposition by saying, "Women's Reservation Bill will be passed only when there is consensus. If you think you can have your way on this then you know our answer. Congress won more than 400 seats in 1984, this time you have only 206 seats. If you don't adhere to the people's wishes we will take the fight to the people."
In an ominous sign the Prime Minister in his speech didn't once mention the bill.
"He did not mention the bill because the President had already done it in her speech," said Pranab Mukherjee Leader of the House in Lok Sabha.
The political reality is that if the PM had given any assurance - on the floor of the House - the bill's opponents would have exploded. And from the very first session cracks would have appeared in the UPA.
Now that the session is over, the government can negotiate, which is why there is talk of cutting the quota.
One reason why the government is afraid of Lalu and Mulayam is that their open defiance could split even the Congress' own ranks because of a basic fear -- male MPs repeatedly elected from one constituency could lose their pocket boroughs.
But the BJP and the Left don't want to make things easy for the government and let them walk away with the credit. So they oppose any reduction in the quota.
"Consensus is an alibi. Parliament has never been short of numbers so the government will have to bring in the original bill," CPM Politburo member Sitaram Yechuri.
The Women Reservation Bill has been around for almost a decade. A minority stalls it and the majority pledges support to it. Perhaps the bill will be passed the day the majority changes its intent.