NEW DELHI - Short-term political gains and scoring points have been higher in
the minds of Indian parliamentarians than righting the skewed gender picture
when it comes to laws to increase the participation of woman in politics.
For all the popping of camera bulbs that greeted the passage of the Women's
Reservation Bill through the upper house (Rajya Sabha) on March 9, it will take
a minimum of two years to become law as it must first pass through the lower
house and then cross the mire of state-level politics.
The bill seeks to reserve for women a third of seats in the lower house (Lok
Sabha) and state assemblies. Women currently
occupy 59 seats out of 545 in the lower house and 21 in the 248-member upper
house.
Just as Sonia Gandhi's Congress-led United Progressive Alliance (UPA) ruling
coalition had intended it to, the bill polarized parliament - mainly to
splinter the opposition and deflect public attention from inconvenient issues
such as price rises, security and relentless opposition attacks claiming the
UPA is "pro-America".
The bill's headway had been scuppered three times since 1996 by a "social
justice" lobby creating political gridlock. It was finally steered through the
upper house after two days of high drama that saw seven members suspended and
which brought boisterous threats from anti-bill parties like the Rashtriya
Janata Dal (RJD), the Janata Dal (JD) and the Samajwadi Party (SP) to withdraw
their support for the UPA government.
The bill's opponents claim the law will lead to a "monopoly by upper-caste
women" at the expense of lower-caste and religious-minority Muslims. "We're not
anti-women but we want reservations for women hailing from minority and
backward classes first," thundered SP leader Mulayam Singh Yadav, a staunch
critic. He insinuated the bill was ''an attempt by the Congress to appease the
rich and the elite".
The vehement reaction might not only change India's political dynamic, predict
political pundits, it might also heighten the UPA's vulnerability in parliament
where it falls four seats short of a clear majority of 272. Yet Congress' stand
on the bill has been unflinching.
While there's no doubting the bill's intention to restore gender balance to
India's political landscape, analysts reiterate the move has little to do with
women's empowerment. It is pure and simple politics, they say.
This is evident from the fact that no sooner had the bill been given the upper
house stamp than all parties scrambled to maximize electoral gains from their
stand on it. For Congress, especially, the legislation is a litmus test as it
sees the quota system as the bedrock of its election-winning strategy of
inclusive growth. By tapping into a lucrative demographic the gains for the
party are self-evident.
Similarly, for the comatose Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) - which has been on
life support since its thumping defeat in general elections last year - it is
an opportunity to dilute the Congress' pro-people appeal and score some
political points.
Leaders of the BJP are already at it, ridiculing Gandhi for stating that the
passage of the bill was a "fulfillment" of the dream of her assassinated
husband, Rajiv Gandhi. "The bill was first introduced in 1996 when Gandhi was
no longer alive, and well before Ms Gandhi joined politics!" opposition leader
Arun Jaitley said acerbically. Another BJP leader, Sushma Swaraj, let no
opportunity pass her by in emphasizing that the bill was initiated during her
party's tenure in government.
For regional parties like the RJD, the SP and the JD, their demands for a quota
for backward castes and Muslim women within the 33% cordon will help
consolidate votes of these castes and prevent the Muslim vote from going to the
Congress. The three hope to cash in on their pet MY (Muslim-Yadav) template,
which has already catapulted them into power in Uttar Pradesh and Bihar.
This strategy will come in handy again during the upcoming assembly elections
in the two states, where the RJD, the SP and the JD hope to polarize voters
along caste and religious lines by attacking the women's bill.
The Congress sees the bill garnering it more seats in parliament, if not more
votes; whatever its claims about being inclusive, the Congress leadership has
always been drawn from the upper castes. The same goes for the BJP . So this
smacks of the parties simply being duplicitous by pretending to be
women-friendly while clandestinely augmenting their own electoral prospects.
The Congress fielded 43 women in the 2009 general elections, only 10% of its
total number of candidates, while the BJP gave the ticket to 44 women.
A long road ahead
The next stage for the bill is to be presented in the Lok Sabha, which could
happen this week. But considering the opposition to the bill, the UPA
government might defer its presentation or try to strike a deal with the bill's
opponents.
Once it is eventually cleared by the lower house, the bill needs to be signed
by the president, following which it will be sent for ratification to all 28
states. This could take over a year The Election Commission also has to
constitute a commission to set the parameters for delineating constituencies
and earmarking them for women.
Apart from this political process, analysts point out that the legislation
contains serious structural flaws. Its primary shortcoming is that it provides
for the mechanical entry of women members to fill one-third of vacancies in the
Lok Sabha and the Vidhan Sabha (legislative assembly) by reserving one-third of
constituencies for women candidates. This overlooks the fact that if women
members are elected in competition with male candidates they are more likely to
be seen as legitimate representatives in the eyes of the public and therefore
garner more respect.
There are other considerations, like the rotation of reserved seats. If a seat
is reserved for a woman for the next round of elections, what incentive will
the sitting male member have to nurture his electorate? And will one term of
reservation be sufficient for women members to fight the next election by
themselves? In all likelihood, women will just be used as "props" to keep the
seat warm for future male members of their clan.
Prime Minister Manmohan Singh hailed the passage of the bill as "momentous" and
women parliamentarians were jubilant.
The problem with this contentious move is that no government since the
inception of the bill has attempted to launch a nationwide debate to assess the
public mood. For legislation so momentous this is vital.
Neeta Lal is a widely published writer/commentator who contributes to
many reputed national and international print and Internet publications.
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