Sonia Gandhi welcomes Women’s bill success says “We had been waiting for it so long”

NEW DELHI. March 10, 2010. In the ongoing 125th year of Congress party and equally important, just a day after the 100th anniversary of the International Women's Day, the passage of the Women's Reservation Bill in the Rajya Sabha on Tuesday, signaling a ‘historic' beginning in the Indian polity after 14 long years of various roadblocks in-between , for Congress President Sonia Gandhi, it was a long-awaited moment in the Indian parliamentary system.
"We had been waiting for it so long," said an extremely jubilant Congress President Sonia Gandhi, shortly after the passage of the historic the Women's Reservation Bill in the Upper House of the Parliament. Commenting on the passage of the Bill, she said that it was realization of the dream of her husband and former Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi, who was very keen to empower women in the country.
In the Rajya Sabha, the Bill (to reserve one-third of seats in the Lok Sabha and state Assemblies in the country) was passed by an overwhelming majority, after Congress-led UPA regime went ahead with it , without fearing onslaughts from some corners but without much of any threat to its (the ruling regime's) stability at the Centre.
Since 1996, various governments at the Centre tried to get the Bill passed in the Parliament but never got to its logical conclusion. Also, the Bill lapsed each time the Lok Sabha was dissolved for the General elections and the Bill had to be tabled again by the government of the day, all these years.
But, it was only after 14 years of long journey marked by politics of various vested interest groups, the Bill crossed the first legislative block on Tuesday with its passage in the Rajya Sabha. The Constitutional Amendment Bill was passed with 186 members voting for it and one voting against. In the 245-member Upper House, the Bill required support of at least 155 members and the UPA had the clear support of majority in the run up to its passage in the Rajya Sabha.
About opposition from some quarters, Congress President Sonia Gandhi hoped that they (the opposing parties) would look at the larger picture and understand as why women could not be, after all, empowered.
Now, the historic measure will go to the Lok Sabha. And, the ruling Congress-led UPA regime having the adequate arithmetic to get it passed with support from main opposition parties like BJP, Left and other smaller parties, the Women's Reservation Bill is almost in realm of a foregone conclusion of its own kind in the history of Indian parliamentary democracy.
Once one-third ( 33 %) in the Lok Sabha and all state Assemblies become reserved for women, as per the Constitutional Amendment Bill for women's reservation, the numerical configuration in these elected houses would be significantly changed, to script a new chapter in Indian democracy.
For instance, in the Lok Sabha out of total 543 seats, 181 would be for women, while in all state Assemblies out of total of 4,109 seats, 1,370 would be for women only.
No wonder, the Bill aimed to empower the women in the country, has been accorded the ‘highest importance' by Congress President Sonia Gandhi.