New Delhi, March 9 (IANS) A woman member of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) startled the Rajya Sabha Friday by suggesting that a woman should be the prime minister for five years and that 33 percent of seats in the union cabinet should be reserved for women.
“A woman should be the prime minister for five years. Also, 33 percent of seats in the cabinet should be reserved for women,” Anusuiya Uikey maintained while participating in the over three-hour debate on the woman’s reservation bill that the house later passed 186-1.

Initially startled, the BJP members then enthusiastically thumped their desks in approval.

The bill provides for reserving one-third of the constituencies in the Lok Sabha and the state assemblies for women.

In the case of the Lok Sabha, the reservation will be in place for three general elections beginning 2014, with the constituencies being selected by a lottery.

The constituencies will be rotated at subsequent general elections to ensure that by 2024, all constituencies will have been represented by a woman at some point in time.

The bill also provides for reserving one-third of seats in the state assemblies for three elections held from the time the bill becomes law.