On the same page
Kanimozhi, Rajya Sabha MP and DMK chief and TN CM Karunanidhi’s daughter, made a stirring speech about how the Women’s Reservation Bill is a bill whose time has come. Dr V Maitreyan of the AIADMK echoed similar sentiments when it was his turn. During the passage of the Women’s Reservation Bill in the Rajya Sabha, both the DMK and AIADMK were on the same page. A miracle when you consider that if Karunanidhi says black, Jayalalitha says white.
But as they say, the proof of the pudding is in the eating. If the bill is passed in the Lok Sabha and the Constitutional Amendment adopted, TN will be among the first states, where both the DMK and AIADMK will seriously have to put their money where their mouth is. So when the assembly elections come in 2011 – or later this year as is speculated – then 78 of the 235 seats in the Tamil Nadu Legislative Assembly should be reserved for women. Currently, there are 22 women MLAs in the house of whom three are ministers.