HYDERABAD: The Upper House of Indian Parliament on Tuesday created a history of sorts in passing the much-debated and much more delayed Women’s Reservation Bill that earmarks 33 per cent of seats in the Lok Sabha, Rajya Sabha and State legislatures.

Stung by Monday’s pandemonium, the protagonists of the Bill ensured that the detractors were thrown of the House. For once, the arch rivals – the Congress and the BJP and the Communists – threw their weight behind the move and supported it in unison.

Chairman of the Rajya Sabha Hamid Ansari suspended seven MPs during the day.

The Bill was passed with 186 MPs favouring and only one opposing it. What amazed the onlookers is that while the Congress-led by Sonia Gandhi and the AIADMK, led by Jayalalithaa, joined hands, the two important political parties led by women, Trinamool Congress by Mamata Banerjee and BSP led by Mayawati, abstained from voting.

The Lalu Prasad’s RJD and the Samjawadi of Mulayam Singh, which were suspended, launched a diatribe against the establishment and also the BJP. Frayed tempers repeated even on Tuesday, but the brouhaha was silenced after the hecklers were shown the door.

Those who spoke included Bharatiya Janata Party's (BJP) Arun Jaitley, Communist Party of India-Marxist's (CPI-M) Brinda Karat, Bahujan Samaj Party's (BSP) Satish Mishra and Jayanthi Natarajan of Congress.

While they "unequivocally" supported the Bill, Mr. Jaitley described the ugly scenes as 'shameful incidents in India’s Parliamentary history'.

"The women's reservation bill will ensure that women of Scheduled Caste, Scheduled Tribe, Other Backward Classes, poor women and Muslim women would benefit from it," said Ms. Karat, while trying to assuage the feeling that the Bill would benefit only some sections.

A beaming  Jayanti Natarajan said: “No other party had the courage to deliver the promise (of reservation for women) to the people of India." She lauded the commitment of Congress president Sonia Gandhi and Prime Minister Manmohan Singh.