NEW DELHI: Support for Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar among the state’s women voters is seen as a major factor for his government’s earlier electoral successes. Though Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) leader Tejashwi Yadav -- projected as the Opposition Mahagathbandhan’s Chief Ministerial candidate -- has been trying to include schemes aimed at women’s empowerment, he carries a legacy contrary to the cause.
It was the role of his father, Lalu Prasad, in opposing the Women’s Quota Bill in the late 1990s that led to stalling its passage in Parliament. With Samajwadi Party (SP) leader Mulayam Singh lending support, and backed by only 37 MPs, he deftly managed leaders in other parties, including the Congress, to craft a way to deter the move.
Interestingly, Congress leader Sonia Gandhi had lent her full support to the Bill.