It is a historic moment. The Women's Reservation Bill has cleared the first hurdle, being passed by Rajya Sabha at 6.48 p.m. on Tuesday with 186 votes for and only 1 against.

With Congress ally Trinamool Congress abstaining, the BSP boycotting the vote and staging a walkout, and dissenting, unruly members of the Samajwadi Party and RJD evicted from House, the move to amend the Constitution to provide 33 per cent reservation to women in Parliament and state Assemblies was passed with overwhelming support.    

But not without drama and discomfort for the Congress-led UPA government, first. Senior minister Mamata Banerjee is in a sulk and the support of Mulayam Singh and Lalu Prasad is all but gone, with the two leaders announcing they are meeting the President soon. (Read: Lalu, Mulayam to meet President, withdraw support)

More than 24 hours and much chaos after the Women's Reservation Bill was brought in the Rajya Sabha, Chairman Hamid Ansari asked for a division of votes, after slogan-shouting MPs refused to let the debate begin.

As the Upper House reconvened at 3 pm on Tuesday, Ansari invited Leader of Opposition Arun Jaitley to begin speaking. Jaitley stood up to do so, but members opposed to the Bill refused to stop shouting.

The Chairman then called for a voice vote, declared the motion passed by voice vote and called for division. Marshals, meanwhile, evicted the unruly members protesting against the Bill. But not before one of them had also dropped a glass of water in the House prompting other members to protest that there was no place to sit with glass pieces all around. (Read: 7 suspended MPs not sorry, critical of eviction)

The BJP was up in arms and demanded a debate, with Jaitley saying: "We are for the Bill, but not these tactics." Jaitley addressed the House in support of the Bill but ended his speech by condemning the physical eviction of MPs.

Other speakers

fast-tracked their speeches to allow for the vote to take place. Congress and Left leaders, the AIADMK and even the JD(U) have spoke in support, the BSP said it opposed the bill in its current form and eventually walked out.

But Congress ally Trinamool Congress abstained from voting, showing its displeasure against the way the Government has pushed through with the Bill. Trinamool leader Sudip Bandopadhyaya made clear that his party was for the Women's Bill, with the government, but wanted quota for minorities included. No Trinamool member was present in the Rajya Sabha. (Read: Mamata upset, Trinamool abstains from vote)

Speaking in the Rajya Sabha during the debate on the Women's Bill, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh said the bill "is a historic and giant step towards empowering women and a celebration of their rights." (Read)

After Monday was lost to aggressive opposition and some poor politics, the UPA took a decisive stand to push through to a vote on Tuesday. Congress president Sonia Gandhi told her party that there was no turning back on the Women's Reservation Bill and that she would like a vote today, despite the political risks.

Those risks are posed both by the threat of withdrawal of outside support to the UPA government by Mulayam Singh Yadav and Lalu Prasad Yadav, who are opposed to the Women's Bill. And by pushing through even at the risk of upsetting important allies within government like Mamata Banerjee.  (Read: Sonia Gandhi says UPA stable, allies on board)

The Congress is worried that withdrawal of support by the Yadavs will affect the UPA government most in the Rajya Sabha, where it will find itself in a minority and unable to push legislation. Sources indicate that the Congress reached out to the Yadavs by telling them to pass the bill first, before negotiations could take place. (Read: Sonia's encounter with Lalu, Mulayam)

Sonia too met Mulayam Singh and Lalu Prasad on the floor of the Lok Sabha and held a 20-minute discussion with them. (Read: Sonia's encounter with Lalu, Mulayam)

However, the opposition to the Women's Bill by the three Yadavs remains intact. Sharad, Mulayam and Lalu Yadav met the Prime Minister this morning and reasserted that the Women's Bill in its current form cannot be pushed through Parliament. (Read: Women's Bill: Yadavs meet PM, say not OK)

Their MPs continued to disrupt Parliament and seven of them were suspended from the Rajya Sabha for the rest of the session. But the Samajwadi Party, RJD and the JD(U) MPs refused to leave House till they were physically evicted, a step that the government wanted to avoid for as long as it could.

The PM and Sonia Gandhi held a meeting of top Congress leaders on Tuesday afternoon to discuss the way forward. Senior leader Pranab Mukherjee emerged from that meeting to say: "We had a discussion now will see how business can be conducted; let us try to see how things can be done smoothly."