Mukherjee meets Yadav troika, peace returns to Lok Sabha

New Delhi, March 11 : Peace returned to the Lok Sabha Thursday following an announcement by Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee that the contentious Women's Reservation Bill won't be tabled in the house before consulting all political parties.

The announcement followed a meeting between Mukherjee and the Yadav troika, the vociferous opponents of the bill that seeks to reserve a third of legislative seats in India for women.

Mukherjee met Rashtriya Janata Dal's Lalu Prasad, Janata Dal-United's Sharad Yadav and Samajwadi Party's Mulayam Singh Yadav in Parliament House after the Lok Sabha was adjourned twice following protests over the bill.

Trinamool Congress chief Mamata Banerjee, Nationalist Congress Party chief Sharad Pawar and DMK leader T.R. Baalu also attended the meeting, sources said.

Following the meeting, Mukherjee made a brief intervention in the house.

A "sort of assurance was sought on the progress of the Constitution Amendment Bill (Women's Reservation Bill) before bringing it to the Lok Sabha. The government will complete the process of consultations with all concerned," the leader of the house said in a statement in the Lok Sabha after the meeting.

"I think this assurance would assuage the feelings of all members and the business would be conducted smoothly," he added.

The house later began a debate on the budget for fiscal 2010-11.