Panchayat polls: BJP snatching rights of women, Dalits with education criteria, says Mallikarjun Kharge

Mallikarjun Kharge

Mallikarjun Kharge, Leader of the Congress in Lok Sabha, has accused BJP-ruled states of snatching rights of women, Dalits and other backward classes by introducing minimum educational qualifications as criteria to contest panchayat polls in Rajasthan and Haryana.

Speaking to reporters on Thursday, the leader said, “With vested interests, BJP-ruled states like Rajasthan and Haryana have changed the rules, barring the illiterate from contesting polls. It will definitely turn out to be a major setback for women, who have 50 per cent reservation in local bodies. When over half of the country’s women population is not educated, how can these governments expect women to contest? The move is nothing but infringement of the rights of women, Dalits and other backward classes.”

[related-post]

Kharge said that his party would decide its stand on the issue in coming days.

Commenting on the forthcoming Legislative Council election in Karnataka, Kharge said all his party candidates will get elected as there is a good response to programmes introduced by the state government. The election for the 25 MLC seats from local bodies will be held on Sunday and the results will be out by December 30.