27 Years, 8 Govts: Tracing the Chequered History of Women's Reservation Bill

Since September 1996, multiple governments tried to push the Women's Reservation Bill but failed to do so.

This decision paves the way for the path-breaking and long-pending legislation to be tabled in Parliament during the ongoing five-day Special Session.

(Photo: Chetan Bhakuni/The Quint)

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The Women's Reservation Bill, which promises 33 percent seats in Lok Sabha and state Assemblies for women, was tabled in the Lower House of Parliament on Tuesday, 19 September, by Union Minister of Law and Justice Arjun Ram Meghwal.

The bill, first introduced in 1996, has seen eight different governments trying to push for 33 percent reservation for women candidates in both Lok Sabha and state Assemblies.

With Prime Minister Narendra Modi-led Union Cabinet clearing the bill, it now paves the way for the long-pending legislation to pass the test of parliament.

What has happened since 1996? The Quint traces the bill's chequered history over the last 27 years.

1996: The First Attempt

The Women's Reservation Bill, inspired by the landmark law allowing 33 percent reservation for women candidates in the panchayat level, was first introduced in the Lok Sabha as the 81st Amendment Bill by then prime minister HD Deve Gowda-led United Front government in 1996.

The support for the bill cut across party lines, and many MPs sought its passage unanimously, on the same day. However, some main leaders of the United Front coalition, including Lalu Prasad Yadav from Janata Dal (JDU) and Mulayam Singh Yadav from the Samajwadi Party (SP), opposed the WRB.

The bill was referred to a joint committee, headed by Communist Party of India's (CPI) Geeta Mukherjee, which submitted a seven-point recommendation in December 1996. The WRB lapsed after the dissolution of the Deve Gowda government.

1997: A Year Later, Bill Lapses Again

On 16 May 1997, the bill was taken up for discussion in the Lok Sabha by the United Front government after IK Gujral became the prime minister. However, there was stiff opposition from within the ruling coalition, just like in the previous session of Parliament.

Late socialist and the then Janata Dal (United) President Sharad Yadav made his infamous statement and said, “Kya parkati auratein hamari mahilayon ki suraksha kar sakte hai?” (Do you think these short-haired liberated women can speak for our rural women?)

A few months later, the Congress withdrew support from the Gujral government over an uproar on the report of the Justice MC Jain Commission that inquired into the assassination of former prime minister Rajiv Gandhi. With the dissolution of Lok Sabha in 1997, the WRB lapsed – once again.

1998-2004: Multiple Attempts by NDA Govts

Two years later, the Atal Bihari Vajpayee-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA) government pushed the bill in the Lok Sabha in 1998. Vajpayee was a strong proponent of the legislation and mentioned 33 percent reservation for women in his Independence Day speech in the same year.

AIADMK leader M Thambidurai, the then Minister of Law, introduced the bill in the house.

But Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) leader Surendra Kumar Yadav, who was a key Opposition MP, snatched the papers from the then Speaker and tore them into bits.

It is important to note that in 1998, the Vajpayee government was dependent on other parties for its survival, many of whom had opposed the bill.

Nitish Kumar, who was the Railway Minister in the NDA government, too, opposed to the bill. The WRB, however, lapsed as the House was dissolved after the Vajpayee government fell in April 1999, with the AIADMK pulling out of the alliance.

Once voted back to power post the 1999 elections, Vajpayee tried to re-introduce the bill. But history repeated itself, with the OBC leaders blocking the path for it to move forward.

It was subsequently reintroduced in 2003, again by the Vajpayee government. The bill, once again, did not muster the support required to become law.

2008: A Significant Progress by UPA Govt 

In 2008, the Manmohan Singh-led UPA government introduced the bill in the Rajya Sabha. With the BJP and Left parties supporting it fully, the UPA had enough support in the Upper House.

But it was not easy as Lalu Prasad Yadav's RJD, a key part of the UPA, was not in its favour, neither was the Samajwadi Party. The two parties demanded that a big chunk of women's quota seats be assigned exclusively to the OBC and minority communities.

Speaking in the Lok Sabha then, Lalu Prasad Yadav had said, "The present form of Women's Reservation Bill can only be passed in the Lok Sabha over my dead body. We want reservation within reservation. The bill must include reservation for Muslim women, women from backward classes and Dalits."

The legislation was reintroduced in the Rajya Sabha on 6 May 2008, and was sent to the standing committee on 9 May 2008.

2010: A Historic Photo Op

The bill's journey witnessed a historic moment in 2010 when three women from rival parties – Sonia Gandhi, Brinda Karat, and Sushma Swaraj – stood united against the three Yadavs – Mulayam Singh Yadav, Lalu Prasad, and Sharad Yadav, all three who have opposed the Bill since 1996.

In 2010, Mulayam Singh Yadav said, "The ones who get elected through the Women's Reservation Bill will be the wives and daughters of officers and businessmen, the kind who get whistled at."

On 9 March, 2010, it was passed by the Rajya Sabha with 186-1 votes. The BJP, the Left, and some other parties came together with the ruling Congress to help pass it in the upper house. However, it was never taken up for consideration in the Lok Sabha and eventually lapsed in 2014 with the dissolution of the Lok Sabha.

Should the bill be tabled in the Special Session of the Parilament, will it finally break the curse of a tumultuous journey?