Rahul Gandhi Bats For Women Quota In Congress-ruled State Assemblies

In an initiative to increase women’s participation in politics, Congress leader Rahul Gandhi wrote to Congress state governments, including the ones where Congress is in alliances, to pass a resolution in the next session to reserve 33% seats for women in the Lok Sabha and state legislative assemblies.

“In order to affirm our support to the passage of the bill, it would be expedient for the state assembly to pass a resolution calling for the reservation of one-third of the seats in the Lok Sabha and legislative assembly for women, in the next session,” Gandhi said in a letter dated December 6 to Punjab Chief Minister Captain Amarinder Singh.

The Congress and several parties have called on the Prime Minister to ensure the passage of the Women’s Reservation Bill and pledged their support.

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While the Rajya Sabha had passed the Constitution 108th Amendment Bill in 2010, it lapsed after the dissolution of the 15th Lok Sabha in 2014, said Gandhi in the letter. “The Congress and several parties have called on the Prime Minister to ensure the passage of the Women’s Reservation Bill and pledged their support.”

A copy of the letter has also been sent to chief ministers of Karnataka and Puducherry. Gandhi stated in the letter that the legislative assemblies of Odisha and Andhra Pradesh have already ‘taken a lead’ and have passed a similar resolution.

Gandhi in his campaign initiatives has been consistently pushing the women’s reservation bill. In a recent meeting held by Centre for Social Research, Congress politician Sarmishtha Mukherjee was present. While addressing an audience of state women workers she recounted how Gandhi has appointed her to motivate women’s interest in politics in Karnataka. Even former Congress president Sonia Gandhi wrote to Prime Minister Narendra Modi earlier this year to push for women’s reservation in parliament and extending the support for the bill as an opposition party.

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