New Delhi: A meeting called by Lok Sabha Speaker Manohar Joshi on July 15 failed to reach a consensus over the controversial Women's reservation Bill. Leaders of the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), main Opposition Congress party, Communist Party of India-Marxist (CPM) and Samajwadi Party attended the meeting.

Though a majority of political parties support the Constitutional amendment Bill, two prominent parties, the Samajwadi party and the Rashtriya Janata Dal, oppose it in its present form. The two parties favour a specific quota for other backward classes, scheduled castes, scheduled tribes and minorities within the proposed 33 per cent reservation for women.

"The draft which everyone will agree to should be passed in Parliament, this is what everyone wants," Joshi told reporters after the meeting.

The Samajwadi Party chief Mulayan Singh Yadav, said that the Election Commission should fix the number of seats for women and those parties that did not adhere to it should be barred from contesting elections.

"We want amendment in the Women's Bill in its present form. The beginning is good and we are moving towards a consensus on the issue. There will be another meeting on the issue. We have presented our views on the issue that (political) parties should be reserved and according to the guidelines of the Election Commission, this Bill should be agreed upon. Whatever percentage a party decides will be reserved for women, otherwise the registration of the party should be cancelled," said Yadav.

Women across India have been lobbying intensely for the Bill, which seeks to reserve one-third of seats for them in the Lok Sabha and state legislatures. The Bill has been pending since 1999.

The CPM said they would give consent to the Bill if the total number of seats in Parliament were increased. "The basic structure is not to be altered, the question is of reservation inside the house. Question is at least a percentage of women members should have their reserved seats," CPM leader and lawmaker Somnath Chatterjee said.

The Congress Party, however, said they would support the Bill only if it was tabled in Parliament without any amendments. "The Bill should be passed as it was presented in Parliament. Others are saying that we are adamant on the issue and that's when we say that everyone has a right to express their own views but we do not want amendments in the present form," said Shivraj Patil, Congress leader.

Political parties would now sit for a next meeting on July 21. Despite an assurance of equality before law, Indian women continue to be discriminated against in most fields. The male-female ratio is loaded against the women and women’s literacy levels are below the halfway mark in most states.

ANI