Caste divides Parliament

The constitutional amendment bill to facilitate reservation in job promotions was tabled in the Rajya Sabha on Wednesday amidst high drama, as the house of elders witnessed unruly scenes between Naresh Agarwal of the Samajwadi Party and Avatar Singh Karimpuri of the Bahujan Samaj Party [BSP]. The two MPs almost came to blows over the bill which seeks to provide reservation for Scheduled Castes [SCs] and Scheduled Tribes [STs] in government job promotions. 

As soon as the deputy chairman P J Kurien asked the government to move the bill, Agarwal proceeded towards the well of the house. At that moment he was grabbed by the collar by the BSP MP. This led to a scuffle between the two leaders and the house adjourned.

Agarwal, however, refuted allegations that he was trying to tear the copy of the bill during its introduction. 'I was not doing so. Instead, I was trying to stop the government that they should not bring the bill in this way,' said Agarwal. He also added that he would file complain against Karimpuri and demand action from the special privileges committee.

In a change of stand taken earlier during the day by the home minister Sushil Kumar Shinde that it would be difficult to pass the bill in this session, the Congress will again bring the bill in the parliament on Thursday. 'The government is clear that there should be reservation in promotions up to 22.5 per cent for SCs and STs in the government jobs,' said the parliamentary affairs minister Pawan Kumar Bansal. 

The government through this bill seeks to circumvent a Supreme Court order quashing a decision of the Uttar Pradesh government to provide reservation in promotions.

Realising that the bill may not be passed in this session, the BSP chief Mayawati lashed out at both the United Progressive Alliance and the National Democratic Alliance, saying that there was no difference between the Congress and the BJP and their allies as far as their attitude towards the SC/ST promotions bill was concerned.

Mayawati was critical of the stand taken by the BJPon the bill, 'We strongly condemn the stand taken by the BJP. The coal block allocation is an important matter. But, the reservation for SC/ST employees is also equally important.' She added that if the BJP had allowed only two and half hours in the house for the bill, it would have been passed.

The BSP chief also took on the Congress and said that the ruling party could have introduced the bill in the last session, but it was because of their political interests that they delayed the bill. 'The Congress wanted to have their candidates win the presidential and vice-presidential election, so they did not want to annoy any party,' she said.

Refuting her allegations, the BJP said that the BSP had never shown its support on the corruption issue. 'We never promised any support to her and where was she when we were protesting against the coal issue? She was siding with the government,' said the BJP vice-president Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi.