Upper House clears Women's Reservation Bill

New Delhi: The long-delayed Women's Reservation Bill, ensuring 33 per cent reservation to women in Parliament and state legislative bodies, was passed in the Rajya Sabha on Tuesday after two days of unrelenting opposition from a handful of parties. The parties in question, the Samajwadi Party, the Rashtriya Janata Dal and the Janata Dal (United) – headed by three Yadavs, who have now been dubbed the 'Yadav Troika' – also saw seven of their Upper House members suspended, and then ejected from the House unceremoniously.

There was some uncertainty if the UPA government would buckle under pressure from the  Yadav duo of Mulayam Singh Yadav and Laloo Prasad Yadav, who are also extending support to the government and had threatened to withdraw support to the UPA formation. The government is critically short in numbers and still has to get the budget passed in the Lower House, or the Lok Sabha.

It is vulnerable to political blackmail on this count.

Under the circumstances the government appears to have chosen to brazen it out and meet the bluff- if it is one - head on.

The Constitution (108th Amendment) Bill was passed by a two-thirds majority, with 186 voting in favour of the bill and one calling against.

The passage of the Bill was only possible through the "unequivocal" support extended by arch political rivals - the right wing Bharatiya Janata Party and the Left formation of the Communist Party of India (Marxist) and the rump formation - the CPI.