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Chief Minister Mayawatis opposition to the Womens Reservation Bill has much to do with the nature of her organisation....

Chief Minister Mayawatis opposition to the Womens Reservation Bill has much to do with the nature of her organisation,which has no system for development of leadership among its women cadres. Although headed by a woman,the BSP is the only party in Uttar Pradesh which does not have a womens wing,or for that matter a students wing or a youth wing.

The Bill does not the suit the party. If it becomes law,how will we find candidates for the seats reserved for women? a BSP leader explained the difficulty.

Ironical it may seem,but Mayawatis Cabinet of 31 does not have a single woman minister although Dalit women turn out in large numbers to vote for her. Of the 21 ministers of state,only one is a woman and her charge is khadi and village industries. In the party organisation also,the BSP does not have a single woman holding important position at the state level or the national level.

Unlike the BSP,the SP does have a womens wing,but it has always been a male-dominated party.

From the Congress and BJP,too,the representation of women in the Lok Sabha and the Assembly is low. But unlike the BSP and SP,these parties have more active and better organised womens wings. The fear in the SP and BSP is that reservation for women would give the national parties an advantage in the elections.

For the BSP,in particular,finding candidates who can put up a good fight has always been a problem. In the last Lok Sabha election,and also the assembly elections,it won over leaders of others parties and fielded them in several constituencies. In fact,the number of turncoats fielded by the BSP in the Lok Sabha elections held last year was perhaps the largest. Once womens reservation becomes a law,finding candidates will become much more difficult for the BSP and the SP. The UP Assembly has as many as 403 elected members. In addition,the state has 80 Lok Sabha constituencies.

While this is the ground reality,in her letter to PM Manmohan Singh on Sunday,Mayawati demanded reservation in the womens quota for SCs and STs,without disturbing the existing quota for them in the LS. Since she did not explain its rationale nor how this could be done,it looked like an attempt to send out a signal to Dalits that she wanted to use this opportunity to obtain a greater share for them.