The IRA Bill has got entangled with the other crucial Bill, the Women's Reservation Bill, which the Congress has announced it will back in any form, whether it is 33 per cent blanket reservation for women in general or a sub-clause for women in the OBC and minorities category. However, the party is expected to thrash out its final line on the IRA Bill on which Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee has staked his prestige, by saying he will push it through with or without the RSS' support.

The Congress meeting is slated for 4.30 pm in Parliament but the crucial factor is the extension of the meeting to ``invitees''. Initially, the party 14-member committee on importantBills and the 32-member Legislative Affairs Committee was to discuss the issue. But since the Bill Committee is loaded with people perceived to be anti-IRA Bill, the meeting has called the ``invitees'' to balance the opinions.

Most of the invitees are expected to be pro-Bill with former Power Minister N K P Salve prominent among them. Others are Kapil Sibal, Praful Patel, R L Jalappa, Madhavsinh Solanki, Manoranjan Bhakta, Hansraj Bharadwaj, Justice Ranganath Mishra, Santosh Bagrodia and Bhuvanesh Chaturvedi. Most of these ``invitees'' are considered to be pro-IRA Bill, meaning the Congress high command is keen to balance the negative factor in its Legislative Affairs Committee.

Having thus gone beyond the Legislative Committee, Sonia is expected to put her stamp of approval on passing the IRA Bill with the rider that the party put forth its specific objections to the Bill. Like keeping the money generated in the country and using it for infrastructure development. But Sonia's decision will come onlyafter both sides have explained their stances. For example, Manmohan Singh and Sharad Pawar are the two powerful Congress Working Committee (CWC) members in favour of the IRA Bill while Rajesh Pilot is the prominent opponent. With Pilot are people like Vyalar Ravi who had opposed Manmohan's economic policies strongly in the Congress Pachmarhi camp in September.

However, the last-minute problems over what should have been a clear stance in favour of the IRA Bill indicate the power of the lobbying forces behind the scene. The Congress had stated in its manifesto that it would open up the country's vast insurance sector but now it is being forced to debate again.

None of these problems exist on the Women's Bill following the CWC's decision to reserve 33 per cent party posts to women. As and when the Women's Bill comes in Parliament, the Congress will back it in whatever form. However, indications are that the Rashtriya Loktantrik Morcha will put up a stiff fight against the Bill's introduction tomorrow inthe Lok Sabha.

In any case, the Congress's evening meeting is on a separate issue, the IRA Bill, and Vajpayee is looking to Sonia's support on this. Once the BJP and the Congress come together, the IRA Bill should have a smooth sailing in Parliament.