New Delhi, March 10: UPA chairperson and Congress president Sonia Gandhi called Trinamul Congress leader Mamata Banerjee for a meeting at her 10, Janpath residence on Wednesday evening to discuss the latter’s objections to the Women’s Reservation Bill in its present form. Two Trinamul members of the Rajya Sabha had abstained from voting on the bill on Tuesday.
At the end of the 45-minute meeting, Ms Banerjee’s belligerence over the bill appeared to have given way to some sort of rapprochement with the Congress-led UPA of which her party, with 19 Lok Sabha MPs, is a key constituent. Also present at the meeting with Mrs Gandhi was Union minister of state for health Dinesh Trivedi of the Trinamul Congress.
The Trinamul was keen to make it clear that it was Mrs Gandhi who had called their party leader for a meeting. Trinamul chief whip in the Lok Sabha Sudip Bandopadhyay told this newspaper, “Ms Gandhi called Ms Banerjee. The meeting was fruitful.”
While he wasn’t willing to say more about the meeting, sources said Mrs Gandhi assured the Trinamul leader that the views of all parties would be taken on the bill. This is significant given that the Trinamul did a somersault on its stand on the bill. Until Monday it was supporting the bill unequivocally. By Tuesday, the party was singing a different tune, complaining that it was being taken for granted as an ally and was not informed about voting on the bill. It also sought an all-party meeting to discuss the bill.
Parliamentary affairs minister Pawan Kumar Bansal contended on Wednesday that Trinamul MP Mukul Roy had been informed about the voting. Mr Roy, however, said he was informed about the voting scheduled for Monday, and not the voting slated for Tuesday.
Ms Banerjee’s posturing on the bill is aimed at her home state of West Bengal where Assembly polls are due next year. It is clear that she needs the UPA and vice-versa. While Ms Banerjee does rock the UPA boat occasionally, remaining with it is vital for her at present as she can get numerous benefits for West Bengal by virtue of being at the Centre.
The Trinamul’s second thoughts on the bill came about owing to the party’s own political compulsions. With the Yadav duo of Lalu Prasad and Mulayam Singh demanding a sub-quota for Muslim women in the bill, the Trinamul could obviously not overlook the interests of the substantial Muslim vote bank in West Bengal.
Earlier on Wednesday, when Trinamul MP Kalyan Banerjee expressed his concern about men getting marginalised if the bill came into force to Mrs Gandhi during an adjournment in the Lok Sabha, Mrs Gandhi responded by remarking in a humorous vein, “Then we will have reservation for men.”
Parul Chandra