Women's Reservation: RS Vote Deferred

The Rajya Sabha voting on the women's reservation bill has been deferred to tomorrow, after a series of adjournments and scenes of unprecedented disrespect to the Chair. The Rajya Sabha saw almost full attendance by members, on the occasion of Women's Day, as it was the day when the landmark bill aiming to enforce 33% reservation for women in Parliament was going to be moved.

While the Congress was determined to pass the bill today, it faced severe opposition from the Rashtriya Janata Dal, Bahujan Samaj Party and the Samajwadi Party, whose members even tried to attack the Speaker of the Upper House, the Vice President Hamid Ansari. Security men of the Speaker tried to control the angry politicians, but disruptors including RJD's Rajniti Prasad, and SP's Kamal Akhtar and Nand Kishore tried to uproot his mike - they succeeded in tearing up his copy of the bill, though.

There was ruckus all over, as opponents of the bill kept going repeatedly to the well of the House. The Rajya Sabha ended up being adjourned more than thrice today.

Abhishek Manu Singhvi, Congress spokesperson condemned the conduct of the politicians today, and said that what could have been a historic day for the country ended up being a day of shame.

The Congress is said to have been keen on passing the bill today, but the RJD and the Samajwadi party have withdrawn support to the UPA government over the bill, demanding a quota for backward castes.

The BJP and the Left, however, would like a debate before supporting the bill.