The caste cauldron once again boiled in the Rajya Sabha on Thursday with many members creating uproar over the bill which seeks to provide reservation in promotion for Schedule Caste [SC]/Schedule Tribe [ST] candidates. For this reason, the bill could not be taken up in Parliament, leading to the Bahujan Samaj Party [BSP] chief Mayawati demanding an extension of the session by 10 to 12 days.
'If the central government really wants the bill to be passed, it should ensure smooth functioning of the house. It should find a middle path on the coal issue to end the disruptions caused by the BJP and its allies, as coal scam is not any less important,' said Mayawati. She also accused the government of playing double game and alleged that the government does not want to upset any party.
Earlier, the members of the Samajwadi Party and the Shiv Sena, trooped into the well of the house to protest against the bill. The Shiv Sena, which is an ally of the Bharatiya Janata Party [BJP], said that it would continue to oppose reservation of any kind on caste or religious lines.
'The Shiv Sena has held this stand for long. It is not a political stunt. It is about social justice. We hold that no one should get reservation on the basis of religion or caste,' said the Shiv Sena leader Sanjay Raut. He added that the bill opposed the ideas of merit and social justice.
In the Rajya Sabha, the government clarified that there was no consideration for including Other Backward Classes in the quota promotion bill, as demanded by the Samajwadi Party and the DMK.
Earlier in the day, the home minister Sushil Kumar Shinde met the BJP leaders L K Advani, Arun Jaitley and Sushma Swaraj to seek support for passing pending bills, including the SC/ST bill. Shinde sought support for the passage of the UAPA Amendment Bill, 2011,the Bill seeks to bring money laundering for terror funding under the ambit of the UAPA Act and term it an act of terrorism.
However, his request was not entertained them.