Many of our leaders are awash with self-adulation, reflecting on their history-making approval of the women's reservation bill in the Rajya Sabha yesterday. I suspect they would be a little less boastful if they were to consider that many of them will look less flattering when historians consider how history was made -- bitterly, with an utter lack of civility and disregard for parliamentary decorum, not to mention accompanied by a vareity of ulterior motives. At the risk of sounding cynical, the manner in which history is being made is far from exemplary.

The BJP, while extending rare support to the UPA government, slammed the Congress for poor floor management, leading to the chaos in the Upper House. When the next day, the Congress had seven dissenting MPs suspended, and later removed from the House by marshals, the BJP voted for the bill but then rallied to the support of the Yadavs -- Mulayam and Lalu, urging them to withdraw support o the UPA.

Trinamool Congress, an ally of the UPA government, has taken a sharp U-turn. As a result, you have the situation of a party led by a woman opposing the reservation bill. This has occurred despite Mamata Banerjee being a Cabinet minister. According to Congress Party chief, Sonia Gandhi, Mamata didn't voice any opposition to the bill at Cabinet meetings and in fact, seemed enthusiastic about it. She went on the offensive as the Rajya Sabha was debating the bill. The point of difference was not the bill itself, but apparently the use of force in evicting the seven MPs from the House. Of course, nobody believes that excuse. Mamata, perhaps, is getting cold feet about losing the Muslim vote, a bloc she has wooed assiduously in her battle with the communists in West Bengal.

The other party being led by a woman -- Mayawati's Bahujan Samaj Party -- has taken a farcical stance. Its leaders contend that 33 percent reservation for women is too little. It should be up to 50 percent. 

And finally the Yadavs, the real anti-heroes in the whole tamasha. 

Both have been so into political oblivion since the drubbing in the Lok Sabha elections. Lalu has been far from visible and Mulayam hit the headlines for all the wrong reasons -- for the public spat and split with his aide Amar Singh. Both now have jumped into the limelight with undisguised glee. Both their parties oppose the bill because it doesn't lay out sub-quotas based primarily on caste. 

Overall, only the Left has come out looking good, and without an apparent agenda. Of course, the Congress leadership too has been sincere about its commitment to the bill, even though its rank and file may not be enthusiastic about it. For now, let's wait and watch the passage of the bill in the Lok Sabha, where again it enjoys overwhelming support but don't we know what a few hecklers can achieve.