NEW DELHI, DEC 4: In yet another attempt to evolve a consensus on the Women's Reservation Bill, Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee has convened an all-party meeting on December 9. Despite its avowed commitment to the issue, the BJP-led Government has not been able to introduce the controversial Bill, which seeks to reserve 33 per cent seats for women in Parliament and state legislatures. This has been partly due to the lack of consensus among the political parties, and also because of differences within the BJP and Congress. The Rashtriya Loktantrik Morcha, comprising the Samajwadi Party and the Rashtriya Janata Dal, has vociferously opposed the Bill.Ever since the Bill took its shape, two successive governments tried to introduce it in the Lok Sabha, but in vain. In 1997, the then Prime Minister I K Gujral found, much to his chagrin, his path blocked by his own partymen, including Janata Dal working president Sharad Yadav.And when the BJP-led Government tried to introduce the Bill during this year'sbudget session, angry RLM members snatched its copy from Union Law Minister M Thambi Durai's hands and tore it into pieces.This was preceded by an all-party meeting convened by the Prime Minister. All efforts to evolve a consensus on the issue, of course, came to a naught with RLM leaders Mulayam Singh Yadav and Laloo Prasad Yadav opposing it.But this time, Vajpayee probably means business. In a letter written today to leaders of all political parties, including the allies of the BJP, Parliamentary Affairs Minister Madan Lal Khurana has urged them to either attend it themselves or depute their reprerestatives.
