womens bill

There is war now over the Women's Reservation Bill. Both Houses of Parliament have been adjourned four times already on Monday. Voting on the Bill in the Rajya Sabha has been fixed for 6 p.m., and could take place without debate. The Opposition wants a debate saying the credibility of the Bill is at stake. But it has also refused to let that debate come to pass. (Watch: War over Women's Bill in Parliment)

At 2 p.m., after repeated adjournments, Law Minister Veerappa Moily moved the Women's Reservation Bill in the Rajya Sabha, but the House had to be adjourned soon after as members of the Samajwadi Party and others opposed to the bill tore up copies of the bill and threw them at Chairman Hamid Ansari. (Read: Chaos in Parliament over Women's Bill)

The MPs rushed into the well of the House ripping off mikes and tearing the Bill. Leaders of parties supporting the Bill later met Ansari in his chamber to apologise for the unruly behaviour of the members who prevented the Bill from being taken up for consideration in the House.

Marshals are now in position to stop disruptors and protect the Chairman when House reconvenes at 4 p.m.

The members of the Samajwadi Party, RJD and the BSP have so far managed to ensure that the Bill does not come up in the Upper House. Mulayam Singh Yadav and Lalu Prasad have also announced that they are withdrawing support to the government over the Women's Bill. They say they are opposed to the Women's Bill because it does not protect the interests of minorities and Other Backward Castes.

The bill reserves 33% seats for women in Parliament and in state assemblies.

The UPA government finds itself in a spot. Set to table and get the Women's Reservation Bill passed in the Rajya Sabha on International women's Day, it is now faced with the possibility of having to get the Budget passed on a wafer-thin majority. While it does not need the support of Mulayam and Lalu to pass the Women's Bill, since the BJP and the Left will vote in favour, it will find itself on very thin ice on other legislation, like the crucial Finance Bill, without the buffer of the 22 Samajwadi Party MPs and 4 RJD MPs in the Lok Sabha. (Read: Why Lalu-Mulayam exit worries govt)

The UPA has 276 members in the Lok Sabha. Of these, how two, Jaya Prada and Madhu Koda, will vote is a question mark. That makes the number 274. With the half-way mark in the 545-member House at 272, the government requires 273 votes to push legislation through. It is in touch with Independents.

The government is also holding emergency meetings right now to some up with the best possible strategy.

Given that the House has witnessed repeated adjournments today, what happens next to the Women's Bill?

The Rajya Sabha chairman, who is also the country's Vice-President, can keep adjourning the House which means the bill may not be put to vote today. In that case, an all-party meeting will follow.

He could ask those disrupting to leave after a while and call them back for the vote once the debate has ended.

Or he can call for a vote without debate. But the problem then would be that a constitutional amendment without debate nullifies the credibility of the bill and of Parliament.

Government sources say they are considering a Raja Sabha rule that allows for the vote to be held in the lobby and not in the actual House. This rule comes into play if there are too many disruptions inside the House. Then the people in favour of the bill can be taken to lobby, while the disruptors stay in the House.