Women's Reservation Bill now splits BJP

New Delhi, Mar 11 (ANI): After reports of a split in the Janata Dal-United (JD-U) over the Women's Reservation Bill, now, it seems, there is a friction in the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) with respect to the successful passage of the Bill in the Rajya Sabha.

Reports reveal that BJP leaders Yogi Adityanath, Hukum Dev Narain, Yashwant Sinha and Shatrughan Sinha are against the party giving a nod to the Bill.

Hukum Dev Narain said: "The Dalit and OBC class should also get some privilege."
Narain, however, indicated that he is not totally against the party.

"I will agree to what the party says," he said adding that he will put up the issue in the next party meeting.

Adityanath said, "If the whip is passed, the party will be affected."

Earlier on Wednesday, there were reports that Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar may form a new party due to a split in JD-U over the Women's Reservation Bill.

Sources said there was difference of opinion between Nitish Kumar and party chief Sharad Yadav with respect to the Bill with members of the party later divided into two factions on the issue.

History was created in the Rajya Sabha on Tuesday when it voted by an overwhelming majority a Bill to reserve one-third of seats in Lok Sabha and Assemblies for women after government pushed ahead with it, ignoring possible threats to its stability and after eviction of troublesome MPs opposed to it.

Fourteen years after the first attempt was made in the Lok Sabha and repeated failures subsequently, the Constitution amendment bill was adopted in the mandatory division with 186 members voting for it and one voting against.

In the 245-member House with an effective strength of 233, the bill required the backing of at least 155 members and the UPA had the clear support of 165 in the run up to the event.

The bill seeks to reserve for women 181 of the 543 seats in the Lok Sabha and 1,370 out of a total of 4,109 seats in the 28 State Assemblies. (ANI)