Mulayam's party has said it will stall Parliament's winter session over the bill. (File photo)
Congressman Beni Prasad Verma has warned Mulayam Singh Yadav that opposing the women's reservation bill in Parliament might have repercussions more immediate than political slugfests.
"If Mulayam does that he will not get food in his house," Mr Verma quipped, inferring that Mr Yadav's opposition to the bill would upset the women in his household.
One of them, his daughter-in-law Dimple Yadav, is an MP from his Samajwadi Party.
The bill has been passed by the Rajya Sabha and now needs the Lok Sabha's nod, but Mr Yadav's party has said it will stall Parliament over the short 12-day Winter session beginning Thursday if the Congress-led UPA government brings it in the lower House.
The bill envisages reserving 33 per cent seats in Parliament and state Assemblies for women. The SP has said it wants modifications to the Bill to accommodate a quota within the quota for women from weaker sections.
Mr Yadav had attracted much criticism last year when he said that rural women will not benefit from the Bill because they are not as attractive as those from the affluent class. He made the remark while claiming that if the Bill is passed, affluent women will march ahead while those from backward sections will be further pushed back.
The row his comment caused was a throwback to the controversy over another remark he made in 2010 that if the Bill is passed it will fill Parliament with the kind of women who invite catcalls and whistles.
Beni Prasad Verma was in the Samajwadi Party before he fell out with Mulayam Singh and launched his own party. He joined the Congress in 2007 and played a pivotal role in party strategy for the 2012 UP elections.
His repeated attacks on Mr Yadav had earned him a reprimand from his party earlier this year and he was warned that "leaders must watch their language." The SP provides crucial external support to the minority Manmohan Singh government at the Centre.