The postponement of the women's reservation Bill was a consummation to be devoutly wished for ... The RJD and the Samajwadi Party ... were honest in their intentions. Not so the major national parties. The Congress, which originally declared itself in favour of the Bill, suddenly turned ambiguous giving the impression that it too would go along with the UP and Bihar parties' demand for fixing a quota within the quota for OBC women. The ruling BJP seemed as though it was waiting for an escape route and grabbed the opportunity to defer the Bill.

It would be in the larger interests of the women of India and parliamentary democracy if the Bill is kept in abeyance, or better still, abandoned so that the polity can work out an alternative and legitimate-looking method of political empowerment of women ... The leadership of major political parties should shed hypocrisy and opt for honesty rather than political correctness ...