NEW DELHI, August 14: The last day of the monsoon session of Parliament saw a piquant finale to the efforts to get the women's reservation bill discussed.

Geeta Mukherjee (Communist Party of India), who has been lobbying actively for the bill, tried to use her five minutes in the Speaker's Chair to get the House take it up. When that failed, she reverted to her role as a `common' member of the House, and staged a tame, six-woman walk-out.

Around 3.00 pm when the House resumed business after an hour-long break, Mukherjee spotted a window of opportunity. She is on the panel of presiding officers who conduct the business of the House in the absence of the Speaker and the Deputy Speaker. It was apparently her turn then in the Chair.

Taking the members by surprise, she abruptly announced that the House would take up the reservation bill for discussion. The bill had been listed as item number 24 on the day's agenda meaning there was virtually no chance that the House would have found time for it today.

But as the Presiding Officer of the moment, Mukherjee hoped to bring it higher on the agenda.She was reminded by Ram Naik (Bharatiya Janata Party) that she had to go about it in a proper manner, and seek the leave of the House to change the order of the listed business. And the House first had to go through the business then in hand the calling attention motions under Rule 377.

Mukherjee immediately agreed, saying that she `hoped' the House could take up the bill immediately after finishing with the business under Rule 377.Nitish Kumar (Samta) -- another MP on the panel of presiding officers then took over. As soon as Mukherjee was out of the Speaker's Chair and back to being just another MP, she raised the women's bill issue. She now asked the person in the Chair to get the bill discussed immediately.

``After 377 is over I will give you an opportunity to express yourself,'' Nitish Kumar promised.But then it was the turn of the private members business, listed to be taken up at 3.30 pm on one designated day of the week. Asked again, Kumar said. ``Now it is private members time, I can do nothing.''Mukherjee then approached women members for the walk-out. On the afternoon of the last day of the session, not many members were present.

Sushma Swaraj (BJP) apparently refused to participate, choosing instead to slip out of the House with two other women colleagues.

The CPI MP and five other women members from the Left and the Congress then staged a walk-out. ``We are all walking out because the bill was not taken up,'' they declared.

Copyright © 1997 Indian Express Newspapers (Bombay) Ltd.