NEW DELHI: Politics makes
strange bedfellows but this time it is policy which has brought bitter rivals on
the same platform. Congress on Saturday welcomed Bihar chief minister Nitish
Kumar's announcement of support for the women's reservation Bill.
The Bihar chief minister got an equally strong endorsement also from BJP for
supporting the Bill, that is slated for being tabled in Rajya Sabha on Monday
for consideration.
Nitish Kumar breaking away from the OBC lobby to say that that he was in favour
of women's quota even though he would have preferred a sub-quota for backward
castes, was reported by TOI on Saturday. He called it "an idea whose time has
come", a strong divergence from his party chief Sharad Yadav who, like other two
other Yadav satraps -- Mulayam Singh and Lalu Prasad -- continued with their
resistance to the legislation.
AICC spokesman Shakeel Ahmed said, "Congress welcomes the statement of Nitish
Kumar. We hope that other parties and leaders who are opposing the Bill will
also modify their views and support the Bill sooner or later as it is a just
cause."
BJP spokesperson Ravi Shankar Prasad said, "We don't normally comment on other
party's affairs, even if they are our allies. But, on a larger issue like the
women's reservation Bill, we welcome Nitish Kumar's positive stand. He has also
observed his own experience of governance becoming more sensitive when
reservation was given for women in Bihar."
The party's stand is an embarrassment for Sharad Yadav who is the convenor of
the NDA.
While Congress and Left have welcomed Nitish Kumar's stand on the Bill, it is
difficult for BJP to be overtly happy about it since the JD(U) leadership is
divided over its stand on the Bill. BJP would not like to be seen as getting
involved in an internal issue of an ally to ensure that relations do not sour
between them, especially in a year when the two have to fight the Bihar assembly
polls together.
The convergence in Congress and JD(U) politics, however, may end just with the
reservation Bill as the two parties are set to cross swords sooner than expected
with assembly polls slated for later in the year.
In fact, Congress has begun to fancy its chances in Bihar with strong calls for
an attempt to revive the party. The Congress was squeezed out of contest by RJD
and JD(U)-BJP in the aftermath of the Babri demolition. The weakening of Lalu
Prasad, as seen in the parliamentary polls, and Congress's own leap of faith
following return to power in Delhi threatens to change the state dynamics.
Congress hopes it can pull enough minority and upper caste votes to dent the RJD
and, in the process, emerge a crucial pole in state politics. The wily Nitish
Kumar is conscious that a strong Congress would be a threat in future.
Their agreement on the women's quota Bill too suggests a certain politics. The
JD(U) leader has introduced women's quota in panchayats and he feels that a
U-turn on the reservation Bill would further cement his place with the gender
group which has emerged as a "independent and distinct constituency".
His support for the women's Bill would also help him stand apart from rival Lalu
Prasad who is against the move.