Click to play videoNew Delhi: Congress President and United Progressive Alliance Chairperson Sonia Gandhi on Monday night made it clear that she wants the Women's Reservation Bill passed in Rajya Sabha on Tuesday.
Congress sources said that at the meeting of Congress Core Committee attended by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, Sonia Gandhi and other senior leaders on Monday night it was decided that all attempts would be made to push the Bill through the Rajya Sabha on Tuesday after Samajwadi Party and Rashtriya Janata Dal MPs thwarted the attempts to get it passed on Monday.
Congress is aiming to get the Bill passed even if there are disruptions and sources have also said that party was open to make some changes to the Bill if it helped in arriving at a consensus.
Sources have told CNN-IBN that the Government would first try to push the Bill through the Rajya Sabha. The Bill will be brought in the Lok Sabha only after Union Budget 2010-11 is passed and amendments made to it.
The Prime Minister met Rashtriya Janata Dal chief Lalu Prasad, Samajwadi Party chief Mulayam Singh Yadav and Janata Dal (U) President Sharad Yadav at his residence at 7 Race Course Road.
"We have demanded that an all-party meeting should be called and all the issues concerning each one of us is discussed. The Prime Minister heard us out," said Lalu after the meeting
"We have appealed to the Prime Minister and asked for reservation for Muslim and other backward castes women," he added.
"We have demanded for a discussion so that our issued are discussed," said Sharad Yadav.
To placate Lalu, Mulayam and Sharad Yadav, the Government may agree to reduce reservation for women from 33 to 25 per cent. But the problem with this formula is that the Yadavs' demand of quota within quota remains unaddressed.
Another scenario is that the Government could push through the Bill without discussion. But the BJP and Left are insisting on debate before voting on the Bill.
If the Government allows Parliament to be disrupted again and the Bill gets deferred again it would result in the loss of face for Sonia and the Congress.
Senior Congress leaders will also be carrying out a series of meetings with leaders of smaller parties.
Left leaders will also be meeting before the parliamentary session starts and the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), too, is expected to meet to discuss the Bill.
The number game: In the LoK Sabha, the Congress and its allies have a total of 315 MPs. The Congress itself has 208 members. The Samajwadi Party has 22 while Lalu's RJD has four. Mayawati's Bahujan Samaj Party has a total of 21 MPs while others tally allies have 59 MPs.
Without the support of the Samajwadi Party and the RJD, the Congress will have a total of 289 votes.
In the Lok Sabha out of a total of 544 MPs, the Government needs the support of 363 votes. It has the support of 410 members, which include the BJP and the Left.
In the 233-member Rajya Sabha the government needs the support of 155 MPs. The UPA Government is assured of 164 votes. Those who will vote in favour of the Bill include Congress (71), the Left (22), the BJP (45) and 26 others including Independents, But Government sources say at least six of those MPs are unreliable.
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