By Our Correspondent
New Delhi, 09/03/2010
The historic bill granting 33 per cent reservation for women in the Lok Sabha and State Assemblies was today passed by the Rajya Sabha after two days of high drama that saw suspension of seven members who violently disrupted proceedings.The Rajya Sabha passed the historic Women's Bill by division with 186 votes in favour, one against.
The Women's Reservation Bill, pushed by the government despite the threat of withdrawal of support by Samajwadi Party and RJD, was passed by a two-third majority, a day after it was moved in the House for consideration but could not be taken up because of unruly scenes.Amongst those who spoke were Bharatiya Janata Party's (BJP) Arun Jaitley, Communist Party of India-Marxist's (CPI-M) Brinda Karat, Bahujan Samaj Party's (BSP) Satish Mishra and Jayanthi Natarajan of Congress.Opening the debate was Jaitley, who said his party 'unequivocally' supported the women's bill but added that the privilege of supporting it had been diluted by 'some of the most shameful incidents in India's parliamentary history'.Congress leader and spokesperson Jayanti Natarajan also refuted critics demanding a special quota for Dalit women, saying Dalits and tribals would continue to get reservation under the bill.Earlier, cracking the whip on disruptive MPs, Rajya Sabha Chairman Hamid Ansari suspended seven members for the remaining part of the Budget session for their unruly behaviour in the House .