http://timesofindia
Nitish breaks from OBC lobby, ready to back Women's quota
Diwakar, TNN, Mar 6, 2010, 01.00am IST
NEW DELHI: In a significant development, Bihar chief minister Nitish
Kumar has come out in support of the women's reservation bill, blowing
a hole in the OBC resistance to the historic move.
"I think it is an idea whose time has come. Bihar was the first state
to reserve 50% of seats in panchayats for women. I have seen it has
helped women emerge as an independent category, and made the
administration more sensitive to the needs of half of our population.
I will appeal to my leader Sharad Yadav and other colleagues to
reconsider their stand," Kumar told TOI on Friday.
He is the first satrap to break away from the OBC establishment that
has doggedly stonewalled the introduction of women's quota in
legislature for almost a decade and-a-half.
The Bihar chief minister was among the vanguard of opposition,
insisting on a quota for OBC and Muslim women within the larger quota
for women. "I still support the quota-within-
have been the ideal solution. But I also feel that it should not
become the ground for delaying the introduction of reservation for
women in legislatures,
In a way, the change in Kumar's stand symbolises the length the bill
has covered - from an idea that was seen as too radical to be embraced
to a necessity for inclusive governance. As a member of the Joint
Parliamentary Committee set up in 1997 to examine the bill, the Bihar
CM along with the DMK representative had submitted a note of dissent
when the panel led by veteran Communist Geeta Mukherjee endorsed the
legislation.
His intervention came on a day when OBC politicians, including his
JD(U) colleague Sharad Yadav as well as arch-rival Lalu Prasad stuck
to their stand to oppose the women's reservation bill so long as it
did not provide for a sub-quota for OBC and Muslims.
The stand of Kumar, architect of JD(U)'s landslide in Lok Sabha polls
in Bihar - the state that accounts for the entire party contingent in
Lok Sabha - is sure to cause disarray among Sharad Yadav's troops,
making it easier for the government to push for the passage of the
constitutional amendment bill.
It will add to the momentum that is promising to propel the bill past
the requisite number in both Houses. On Monday, Lok Morcha, a group of
4 independents - Jaswant Singh, Digvijay Singh, Inder Singh Namdhari
and Raju Shetty - pledged their support to the quota legislation. "We
will support it," said Digvijay Singh.
Kumar's "aye" fits in with his plan to enhance his appeal among all
castes. He was recently accused of ignoring the interests of upper
castes by some of his discontented colleagues. His jettisoning of the
caste-based resistance to the quota bill can serve as an effective
political riposte.
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