Women’s quota bill: Back on the agenda?

Congress president Sonia Gandhi’s letter to Prime Minister Narendra Modi calling on the ruling BJP to pass the women’s reservation bill brings up an important subject. That the bill was allowed to lapse in 2014 despite having got Rajya Sabha approval in 2010 is a reflection of a male-dominated society’s priorities. The BJP has responded in political terms to the letter, noting that the Congress’ allies were the ones who blocked the bill that envisages 33 per cent reservations for women in Parliament and the state Assemblies. Indeed, the parties led by Mulayam Singh Yadav and Lalu Prasad Yadav, which perennially project their social justice objectives, were the main stumbling blocks. They used to claim that reservations first need to be first made for women within the quotas of affirmative action for the social upliftment of backward castes. The debate resumes now as the BJP has a clear majority in the Lok Sabha, the first party to do so in over 30 years in India’s coalition political space.

Nothing much has changed in the 30 years since the idea was first mooted by Rajiv Gandhi. The country had a woman Prime Minister as early as the 1960s, but there were few prominent women in Indira Gandhi’s Cabinets or even MPs then, and the concept of reserving seats for women in legislatures was a revolutionary one even in the 1980s. Reservations became possible in lower rungs of governance like gram panchayats through a constitutional amendment in 1993. Even then, the men dominated through proxy governance if their wives got elected as local body heads. A huge mindset change is needed to make the transition possible to accommodate at least one-third seats (a third to be rotated in reservation every election) for women MLAs and MPs. It’s doubtful if the BJP, historically a male-centric party, would have the willpower to impel a virtual women’s movement in legislatures, even if women have broken the glass ceiling in many other areas of corporate and public life.

While in Opposition, the BJP was a mere spectator as UPA partners blocked the idea, leaving the bill in cold storage. The ruling party has now been given a challenge to reveal its stand as it’s now in a position to have the bill passed. Mrs Gandhi is known to have a genuine interest in the revolutionary idea of women’s reservation, which she has long promoted. Even so, her bringing it up now might appear a political ploy as nearly 50 per cent of the electorate comprises women and the general election isn’t far away. It would be of interest to see how the BJP tackles the issue or deflects criticism if it lets the matter lie on the backburner for few more years till the 2019 elections.