Kavitha to invite Sonia, Priyanka, Smriti Irani, DK Aruna for protest for Women's Bill
BRS MLC K Kavitha will take up a protest at Jantar Mantar during the winter session of Parliament demanding passage of women’s reservation Bill in December
- Telangana
NewsTAP Bureau- Updated On:23 Aug 2023 9:34 AM GMT
HYDERABAD: Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) MLC K Kavitha will take up a protest at Jantar Mantar during the winter session of Parliament demanding passage of women’s reservation Bill in December.
Addressing a press conference in Hyderabad on Wednesday, she said that she would invite Sonia Gandhi, Priyanka Gandhi, Smriti Irani and DK Aruna to join the protest. She pointed out that despite Dr. BR Ambedkar’s fight for women’s reservation in the legislative bodies, the issue was not addressed by any ruling political party since independence. “Currently there are only 12 per cent of women in the Indian Parliament, a marginal increase from the eight per cent in the first Lok Sabha,” she observed.
Kavitha wanted to know whether women should limit their presence as Sarpanches, MPTCs, and ZPTCs. She said that the number of women representatives in local bodies increased to 14 lakh only after the BRS Government brought legislation.
Criticising the BJP and the Congress for raking up the issue of women in the first list of candidates of the BRS, she said that the opposition didn't have any issue to pick up against BRS and thus were attacking the party on women's reservation. “This issue is in Delhi not in gully and if there is a political will, the Bill can be passed by this Modi regime,” she challenged.
Kavitha opined that there must be legislation making it mandatory for all political parties to implement the reservation. “BRS will support when the Bill is introduced,” she added.
She said that opposition parties were behaving as if it was her personal issue, whereas the issue was for all the women in the country. “Parties are thinking in a closed mindset and are pitting women against women and trying to sideline the issue,” she said. Nehru's cabinet had only one women minister and now in Modi's cabinet, the number was two, she said adding that this was the progress of gender equality, 75 years after Independence.
Uttar Pradesh did not implement reservations in local bodies and Haryana and had artificial barriers to stop women from contesting in polls, Kavitha said and added, “These are acts against women and ironically BJP leaders are attacking me,”
She said that Sonia or Priyanka Gandhi never spoke about the Bill after passing it in Rajya Sabha in 2010. BJP is equally to be blamed, Kavitha added.
