Sonia Gandhi, a former leader of the Congress, declared on Saturday that the INDIA coalition would fight for the passage and implementation of the Women’s Reservation Bill.
The late Rajiv Gandhi established the historic 33% reservation for women in Panchayati raj, the local self-governments, she said, adding that this sparked a completely new phenomena of women leadership at the grassroots level.
It was an important first step towards the reservation of a similar one-third of seats in legislative bodies, which the Congress pioneered both inside and outside of Parliament.
Now, the Women’s Reservation Bill has been ultimately enacted as a result of ‘our relentless persistence and efforts; of all of us, not just the Congress.’ However, ‘as we all know it is still a long way to come.’
She recalled opposition MPs’ comments made in Parliament regarding whether the Bill will actually be implemented in a year, two years, or three years.
While some men may be content, she continued, ‘We have no idea,’ adding that ‘we women are not.’ She declared, ‘We are going to fight,’ to see the Women’s Reservation Act put into effect.
The Rajya Sabha approved the UPA-II-introduced Women’s Reservation Bill, but the Lok Sabha rejected it due to a lack of agreement.
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