Sonia Gandhi would have liked the Women's Reservation Bill passed in the Rajya Sabha on International Women's Day. That will not happen now, with voting on the Bill deferred till Tuesday after much chaos in Parliament.
The Prime Minister has also convened an all-party meeting on Tuesday to discuss how to move forward on the Bill. In the meantime, senior Congress leaders Pranab Mukherjee and Ahmad Patel have been meeting allies one-by-one.
On Monday, both Houses of Parliament four times, with traditional opponents of the Women's bill, the Samajwadi Party and the RJD, also announcing that they were withdrawing support to the UPA.
At 2 p.m., after repeated adjournments, Law Minister Veerappa Moily moved the Women's Reservation Bill in the Rajya Sabha, but the House had to be adjourned soon after as members of the Samajwadi Party and others opposed to the bill tore up copies of the bill and threw them at Chairman Hamid Ansari.
The MPs rushed into the well of the House ripping off mikes and tearing the Bill. Leaders of parties supporting the Bill later met Ansari in his chamber to apologise for the unruly behaviour of the members who prevented the Bill from being taken up for consideration in the House.
The UPA government finds itself in a spot. Set to table and get the Women's Reservation Bill passed in the Rajya Sabha on International women's Day, it is now faced with the possibility of having to get the Budget passed on a wafer-thin majority. While it does not need the support of Mulayam and Lalu to pass the Women's Bill, since the BJP and the Left will vote in favour, it will find itself on very thin ice on other legislation, like the crucial Finance Bill, without the buffer of the 22 Samajwadi Party MPs and 4 RJD MPs in the Lok Sabha.
The UPA has 276 members in the Lok Sabha. That gives it a margin of just 3 over the 273 votes required to push legislation through in the 545-member House. It is in touch with Independents and rebels.
The Prime Minister has also convened an all-party meeting on Tuesday to discuss how to move forward on the Bill. In the meantime, senior Congress leaders Pranab Mukherjee and Ahmad Patel have been meeting allies one-by-one.
On Monday, both Houses of Parliament four times, with traditional opponents of the Women's bill, the Samajwadi Party and the RJD, also announcing that they were withdrawing support to the UPA.
At 2 p.m., after repeated adjournments, Law Minister Veerappa Moily moved the Women's Reservation Bill in the Rajya Sabha, but the House had to be adjourned soon after as members of the Samajwadi Party and others opposed to the bill tore up copies of the bill and threw them at Chairman Hamid Ansari.
The MPs rushed into the well of the House ripping off mikes and tearing the Bill. Leaders of parties supporting the Bill later met Ansari in his chamber to apologise for the unruly behaviour of the members who prevented the Bill from being taken up for consideration in the House.
The UPA government finds itself in a spot. Set to table and get the Women's Reservation Bill passed in the Rajya Sabha on International women's Day, it is now faced with the possibility of having to get the Budget passed on a wafer-thin majority. While it does not need the support of Mulayam and Lalu to pass the Women's Bill, since the BJP and the Left will vote in favour, it will find itself on very thin ice on other legislation, like the crucial Finance Bill, without the buffer of the 22 Samajwadi Party MPs and 4 RJD MPs in the Lok Sabha.
The UPA has 276 members in the Lok Sabha. That gives it a margin of just 3 over the 273 votes required to push legislation through in the 545-member House. It is in touch with Independents and rebels.
