NEW DELHI: Sonia Gandhi restored the Congress stamp on 'promotion quota' bill just when BSP chief Mayawati had all but cornered the glory, as she took centrestage in the drama triggered by Samajwadi Party to stall the quota bill in Lok Sabha.
SP MP Yashbir Singh snatched the papers from personnel minister V Narayanasamy's hands when the government decided to initiate the discussion in the din. The "deplorable" act triggered a bout of push and shove that brought Congress and protesting SP MPs to blows.
But it was Sonia's desperate lunge at the delinquent Samajwadi MP that dominated the proceedings. Sonia, who sits at the edge of the well in the front row, in a reflex action, went for Singh's arm to retrieve the paper, in the process being caught in the melee caused by sloganeering Samajwadis. Congress MPs told TOI that the party president also seemed annoyed with Narayansamy for not keeping a second copy of the Bill.
The scene brought Congress MPs to the well, with many MPs asking her to come back but in vain. While it all happened in a jiffy, Vilasrao Muttemwar pursued Singh in a rage. It invited vocal allegations that he had punched the Samajwadi Party MP, himself a dalit from the reserved Nagina constituency. Muttemwar denied the charge while adding that he had merely gone to protect his boss. "It is my duty," he told TOI.
The melee postponed the bill for the day as a stunned Speaker Meira Kumar adjourned the proceedings, pushing the drama to the last day of the session. Parliamentary affairs minister Kamal Nath told reporters the incident was condemnable and asserted the government would take up the bill again on Thursday.
Samajwadi chief Mulayam Singh Yadav backed his rampaging contingent and played down the outrage over snatching of papers by saying it was "not the first time such a scene had happened".
Inaction on part of Sonia and her troops on Wednesday would have marked a blow for Congress that has already come across as a reluctant player who has been forced to follow Mayawati's lead on the promotion quota bill.
Failure to clinch the bill in the Lok Sabha on Thursday- a very strong possibility, considering the reluctance of the BJP to commit its support- will again make it vulnerable to attacks from the BSP chief. Sonia's reflexes may have saved the day for Congress on Wednesday, underlining her cruciality for the party at a time when political parlours remain abuzz with speculation about the elevation of son Rahul. It also helped Congress differentiate itself from the BJP which on Wednesday appeared wracked by upper caste resentment in its ranks against the "promotion quota".
Her presence in the Lok Sabha when the bill was taken up in the post-lunch session after two adjournments forced by the protesting Samajwadis did indicate seriousness. But it was her act of taking on the hostile SP member with screams of "give it back" that underlined the eagerness of the leadership to pass the legislation crafted to restore reservation in promotions for SCs and STs.
Sonia's political smarts may mitigate the loss in the war of credits at the hands of the volatile BSP supremo who put her indelible stamp on 'promotion quota' by taking it up in the monsoon session and then pursuing it right to the end of the winter session.
In fact, the government had appeared happy to hide behind Samajwadi protests to consign the legislation to the deep freeze, until Mayawati's stunning allegation that Rajya Sabha chairman Hamid Ansari and the Centre were complicit in the disorder designed to derail the legislation led to its dramatic passage in the upper House. The success of the bill was roundly attributed to her commitment.
The scene appeared changed after Wednesday's drama as Congress surfaced with a triumphant spin to Sonia's march into the well. Personnel minister Narayanasamy said, "It shows the importance she gives to this bill."
In the Congress vs SP faceoff, BJP appeared squeezed out of the action, this time appearing to be hiding behind the Samajwadis. The saffron outfit has been in the throes of a mutiny of sorts, with upper caste members questioning the backing for quota on the ground that it would put off the party's core constituency.
While the BJP is unlikely to revise support for the bill that can have consequences for its pull among dalits and tribals, the party's silence during the drama and the active engagement of senior leaders with Samajwadis crying manhandling, projected it as indifferent, if not hostile.
Sonia's lunge helps Congress grab promotion quota bill
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Sonia's lunge helps Congress grab promotion quota bill
