Pass women quota,will kill self: Sharad

“How can you ignore India’s reality and pass the women’s reservation Bill? We may not have the numbers but I will consume poison and die but not allow the passage of the Bill,” Yadav announced in the Lok Sabha while speaking during the debate on the motion of thanks to the President’s address.

The BJP,the JD(U)’s ally in the NDA,however,came out in support of the Bill. “BJP will certainly stand behind the government for the passage of the women’s reservation bill,” Arun Jaitley,Leader of the Opposition in the Rajya Sabha,said. BJP Deputy Leader in the Lok Sabha,Sushma Swaraj,acknowledged her party’s differences with the JD(U) over the Bill.

Yadav said the Congress was indulging in “tokenism” by appointing a woman President and Speaker instead of taking concrete steps to liberate poor and backward women.

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“Caste is the biggest curse,” he said. “The caste system has been used to suppress a large section of women. Only when the caste system is demolished will the real women of India be empowered. It cannot be done through the tokenism that the Congress is resorting to.”

The women’s reservation Bill was mentioned by President Pratibha Patil in her address to both Houses of Parliament yesterday as part of the government’s 100-day agenda.

SP chief Mulayam Singh Yadav and RJD leader Lalu Prasad Yadav have been powerful opponents of the Bill in the past. Asked if he would continue to oppose the Bill,Lalu said on Friday that he would take a decision after the bill is tabled in the House.