A big question mark hangs on the fate of the Women's Reservation Bill after the government failed to pilot it in the Rajya Sabha on Monday to mark the international women's day. What looked like a simple exercise until Monday morning, seems as daunting a task as it ever was.

The first indication that something had gone seriously wrong came when the government failed to go beyond the stage of taking up the bill for consideration until the third adjournment. A handful of members from Samajwadi Party and RJD foiled the government's attempt to get the bill passed, which reflected on poor floor management and absence of strategy on the ruling coalition.

The second and decisive setback came when the main opposition party, the BJP, changed its stand towards the evening and said the bill shouldn't be put for voting without a debate as it was a constitutional amendment. Soon, some of the Leftist leaders joined the chorus, followed by even the government's allies, the Trinamool Congress and DMK.

A worried prime minister called for an all-party meeting to salvage the bill but realised after an informal discussion with leaders of other parties that convincing them to vote without a debate would not be easy. He postponed the meeting to Tuesday noon. He would also be meeting the opposing Yadav trio-RJD chief Lalu Prasad, SP chief Mulayam Singh and JD(U) chief Sharad Yadav before the all-party meet. That was the third indication. 

Suddenly, demand for a quota within the quota (this time for Muslims, apart from the OBCs) has come back to haunt and derail the whole exercise to provide 33 percent reservation to women in legislatures.

Now that the international women's day has passed, it is unlikely that either the government or the BJP and the Left, which had earlier supported the bill in its present form, would be too kin to pass the bill in a hurry.