New Delhi:
After Sonia Gandhi's triumph on Tuesday, those slighted by the events leading up to the Rajya Sabha approving 33 per cent reservation for women will now attempt to take centrestage. (
Read: Rajya Sabha passes historic Women's Bill)
On Wednesday, Samajwadi Party (SP) chief Mulayam Singh Yadav and Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) chief Lalu Prasad Yadav were expected to hand letters to the President formally withdrawing support to the UPA government. But Mulayam has now said, "There is no question of meeting the president today."
Lalu said he had sought an appointment with the President, but had not been given one yet.
They were also said to be toying with bringing a no-confidence motion against the government, though Mulayam Singh accepts that they do not have the numbers to do so.
And sources say the rest of the opposition is unlikely to support plans for a no-trust motion. The BJP, the sources say, thinks there is no need for such a motion at this time.
The Yadavs will now at least try and build a pressure group on the issue. Their demand for reservation for minorities within the quota for women does find echo even in demands voiced by Congress allies like Mamata Banerjee of the Trinamool Congress, who is sulking after Tuesday's vote. (
Watch: Upset, not taken into confidence: Mamata)
"It is not about who is in majority. The government has acted in a stubborn manner. Samajwadi Party has always supported reservation for women but we wanted a quota within the quota," said Mulayam Singh Yadav. (
Watch: SP to formally withdraw support to UPA)
Both Mulayam and Lalu have been traditional opponents of the women's reservation bill through its decade-and-a-half long journey. Repeated attempts by first the prime minister and then even Congress president Sonia Gandhi in the Lok Sabha on Tuesday failed to win them over to the Congress' side of the argument. (
Read: Sonia encounter with Lalu, Mulayam)
In alienating Mulayam Singh and Lalu Prasad, the Congress has taken a calculated political risk. In the Lok Sabha, without the support of Mulayam's 22 MPs and Lalu's four the UPA still has a majority, albeit razor-thin. But in the Rajya Sabha, the UPA is in minority and without the Yadav numbers, will find it difficult in the long term to push legislation.
Sonia Gandhi, who spoke to NDTV's Barkha Dutt exclusively, acknowledged the risk, saying: "Well, it is a huge risk but we have taken risks before. Whenever there is something revolutionary and new, there is opposition, there are difficulties in all parties, perhaps in my party too. But as I said the larger picture of women empowerment is more important." (
Read & watch full interview)