New Delhi : All India Women’s Congress president Shobha Oza Monday said the BJP government was reluctant to table the women’s reservation bill in parliament and this was in stark contrast to its election manifesto that stressed on women’s emancipation.
She said the AIWC will hold a “Sankalp Diwas” August 20, the birth anniversary of Congress leader and former prime minister Rajiv Gandhi, and press for 33 percent women’s reservation in the Lok Sabha and state assemblies.
“The UPA government had got the women’s reservation bill passed in Rajya Sabha but the Bharatiya Janata Party did not allow the then government to table the bill in Lok Sabha. They disrupted the house,” Oza told the media here.
She said if the BJP was serious about women’s empowerment, as it had pledged during the election campaign, it should table the bill in the next session of parliament.
Oza assured that the Congress would support such a move by the government.
“BJP talked big on women’s issues but you can see they did not do anything to that effect in parliament. We hope they table the bill in the next session of parliament. Our party will support them. The BJP cannot make any excuses in this matter as they enjoy majority in the house,” she said.
She added that 8,000 workers of the AIWC will form a human chain on August 20 and press for the issue.
She credited Rajiv Gandhi for having conceptualised the very policy of granting reservation to women in elected bodies.
“It was due to Gandhi’s efforts that 33 percent seats were reserved for women in local governance which was later enhanced to 50 percent during the UPA regime,” Oza noted.