What is an all-women parliament?
Samajwadi Party chief Mulayam Singh
Yadav Sunday said the women's reservation bill was an "international
conspiracy" to weaken Indian democracy and said it would ultimately lead
to an all-women parliament that would be "alarming" for the country.
"The women's reservation bill
will eventually weaken Indian democracy and it is really unfortunate that the
UPA (United Progressive Alliance) government at the centre was playing into the
hands of those whose only intent was to break the backbone of Indian
democracy," Mulayam Singh said at a press conference here.
He was of the view that 33 percent
reservation for women in legislatures would finally make it a nearly all-women
parliament. "The manner in which 33 percent seats would be reserved for
women in every election, would lead to sending about 80-85 percent women to the
parliament," he said.
Terming that as an "alarming
situation", he asked, "just imagine what would be the fate of this
nation in the hands of inexperienced leadership, with both Pakistan and China
sitting across our borders with their own nefarious designs?"
He claimed that the reservation bill
would further deprive members of the minority communities, tribals and Dalits
from entering parliament or state legislatures.
"As it is, as many as a dozen
states had not elected a single Muslim at the last election; therefore it was
extremely important that the bill provides for reservation of some seats for
women belonging to the minority community, OBCs and Dalits," he stressed.
"I am not opposed to
reservation for women, but I am opposed to the bill in its present form,"
Mulayam Singh added.
He said that Rashtriya Janata Dal
(RJD) president Lalu Prasad and Janata Dal-United (JD-U) chief Sharad Yadav
were also with him on the issue and that they would continue to fight together
against the bill.
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