In a sea of support for the Nari Shakti Vandan Adhiniyam or the Women’s Reservation Bill, the Rashtriya Janata Dal stood isolated in the Rajya Sabha over its demand to send it to a select committee. The party’s Rajya Sabha member Manoj K. Jha, the lone speaker on the legislation, said the Parliament would be committing a “historic blunder” if it did not amend the Bill to include quota for Other Backward Classes (OBCs).
Though all the INDIA partners came out unanimously in support of “quota within quota” or reservation for the OBCs within the 33% reservation for women and immediate implementation, all of them stood in support of the legislation. The RJD was the only party that refused to spell out its position either in support or in opposition to the Bill.
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