Congress faces turmoil over women`s bill

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India's ruling Congress party officials met on Wednesday to douse a political standoff over a contentious women's quota bill after two of its allies quit and left the government less elbow room to pass economic legislation.

Already under fire over issues such as food inflation and a proposed hike in fuel prices, India's coalition government has been hit by turmoil trying to push through legislation reserving a third of parliamentary seats for women.

The bill angered two of Congress' partners - the regional Samajwadi Party and Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) - which withdrew support and on Wednesday began mobilising support for a possible parliamentary vote against the government.

Though the Congress-led coalition still has a majority, the stand-off may prove a distraction for a government trying to push through key economic legislation, including the budget for 2010-2011.

"We are talking to everyone, everything is fine and we are not worried," senior Congress leader Veerappa Moily said.

The two parties supported the government from outside but their support provided the Congress with the elbow room to push through policy decisions in parliament to maintain high growth.

"We do not have the numbers now, but we are in touch with other political parties and if the situation changes we may consider it," Samajwadi chief Mulayam Singh Yadav told Reuters when asked if his party was considering bringing a "no-trust" vote against the government.

The women's quota bill was passed in an evening vote on Tuesday after a raucous day in the upper house of parliament, but it still needs the approval of the lower house.

Critics say the legislation is being pushed through at the expense of other disenfranchised minorities such as Muslims, and will benefit women already in privileged classes.

The women's quota bill has also left a major government ally disaffected.

Trinamool Congress party, one of the government's most influential allies, abstained to protest at Congress' handling of the bill and said it would do the same in the lower house. But the party has not spoken of breaking away from the coalition.

The bill, which was first introduced in 1996, is intended to speed up women's empowerment in a country where women lag far behind on many social and health indicators. Women lawmakers and activists shouted "we have made it" outside parliament on Tuesday.