Creating a Constituency

IF there is a sense of inevitability about the recent course of the women's reservation bill in parliament, there must also be a recognition that the bill is not going to rest in peace in the musty cabinets of the law ministry either The manner in which the bill was dealt with in parliament last week is a clear demonstration, if one were needed, that barring the Left parties no national political party is at this point in time willing to support the passage of the bill. In other words, the electoral stakes are simply not high enough; the constituency which supports the bill and all that it stands for can be balanced by an equally numerous and influential force which can cut across it The passing of the bill is therefore dependent on upping the stakes.