Women's Bill: Unruly MPs suspended in attempt to allow debate

New Delhi: With the Opposition backing the government, will the Women's Bill be put to vote today?

In huge step towards that, 7 MPs who have been disrupting the Rajya Sabha repeatedly since Monday have been suspended for the entire session of Parliament.

With them out of the way, the debate on the Women's Bill can now take place. The Left and the BJP have insisted that the bill must be debated in the House before they vote in favour of it along with the government. (Women's Reservation Bill: Who stands where)

That was meant to happen on Monday, but a handful of MPs, some of them from Lalu and Mulayam Yadav's parties, forced the Rajya Sabha to adjourn five times on Monday. Their hooliganism gave Parliament some of its most embarrassing scenes, forcing the Prime Minister and Lalu Prasad Yadav to apologise to the Chairman of the Rajya Sabha, Hamid Ansari, who is the Vice-President of the country. (Read: PM apologises to Ansari, Lalu says sorry too)

With the Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha in chaos on Monday, the government deferred the vote on the bill, which turned into a political disaster, allowing the Opposition to accuse the government of developing cold feet. (Watch: Chaos in Parliament over Women's Bill)

The Congress was worried about whether taking any action against the MPs would be seen as undemocratic. The Opposition, however, promised it would support the Congress on the issue.

However, the opposition to the Women's Bill by the three Yadavs remains intact. Sharad, Mulayam and Lalu Yadav met the Prime Minister this morning and reasserted that the Women's Bill in its current form cannot be pushed through Parliament. (Read: Women's Bill: Yadavs meet PM, say not OK)

Instead, Lalu said, they want the vote to be deferred till after an all-party meeting on the bill. The three Yadavs claim the bill does not protect the interests of Dalits and Muslims.

Lalu and Mulayam Yadav, who have 26 MPs between them, have threatened to withdraw support to Manmohan Singh's government over the Women's Bill. (Read & Watch: Mulayam, Lalu withdraw support to govt)

The government, the Left and the BJP are all in favour of the bill, so they have the numbers to push through this bill. The problem for the government is with the Finance Bill or the vote on the Budget - without the Yadavs, their majority is reduced to a single-digit lead, which, according to sources, has left them jittery. If a government loses the Budget vote, it falls. But more importantly, the Congress is worried that in future, Mulayam and Lalu could team up with the Opposition to vote against the government on other important issues. (Read: Why Lalu-Mulayam exit worries govt)