Women's Bill: No consensus at all-party meet

New Delhi, Apr 5: The all-party leaders meet over the Women's Reservation Bill failed to reach a consensus on Monday, Apr 5.

Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee, who is also the leader of the house in the Lok Sabha, chaired the meeting at the Parliament complex.

Senior union ministers P Chidambaram, A K Antony, Sharad Pawar, Mamata Banerjee, M Veerappa Moily, P K Bansal, Prithviraj Chavan and V Narayansamy attended the meeting.

SP and RJD leaders Mulayam Singh Yadav and Lalu Prasad, refused to budge from their earlier stand and said that they continue to oppose the bill in its present form.

Union railway minister and Trinamool Congress chief Mamata Banerjee said her party supported the bill, but the interest of the minorities should be taken care of.

The bill seeks to reserve 33 percent of all seats in the Lok Sabha and state legislatures for women.

The government wants to introduce it in the lower house in the second phase of the budget session that starts on Apr 15.

OneIndia News