‘We too anticipate women’s quota Bill… PM has done a lot to uplift women… but a Bill is required’: BJP Mahila Morcha chief

The PM as well as BJP chief ministers are unveiling schemes targeting women ahead of the polls.

It is more than that. Women in India have started realising that they are getting respect from this government. How naari shakti (women’s power) gets involved in this government’s thought process is not only through women accessing basic needs via the yojanas, but by them realising that they are getting recognised by this government. We have a woman President, we have women leaders handling important portfolios and departments. It gives a message that this is an inclusive government that recognises the potential of woman power.

But this government faced criticism for its handling of the wrestlers’ protest over sexual harassment. Questions have also been raised over the remission of sentences of all convicts in the Bilkis Bano case. The Manipur episode of women being paraded naked also happened under his watch.

Yes, there are instances. We can’t say we are a crime-free society. So the sensitivity with which the government tackles an issue is also important. As far as the women wrestlers’ issue is concerned, if an offence took place, the first thing that should have been done is to file an FIR. But how many days did they take to do that? The law of the land will take its own course. There is a procedure. Union Sports Minister Anurag Singh Thakur himself went to hear them out. The process is on.

The remission (in the Bilkis Bano case) was a government decision on the basis of available options. You can’t say the government alone was insensitive, the judiciary also played its part.

And, no one can digest what happened in Manipur. The PM has assured us the culprits will be punished.

There is a lot of talk about the women’s quota Bill — both the President and the Vice President have spoken about the need for adequate representation of women in legislative bodies. Is something in the offing?

Like others, we too are anticipating… More than that, we’re hopeful. As a BJP office-bearer for over 25 years, I have seen how PM Modi is trying to raise the representation of women at the party’s grassroots, and to give 33% of the BJP’s seats to women.

Nevertheless, legislation is required. The transformation at the grassroots is because of the 50% reservation at the panchayat level.

Are you expecting PM Modi to take the step now?

We are very hopeful. The BJP has assured the people that we will do it.

Since the BJP has the numbers, we’ve seen this government take steps that past regimes could not, like abrogation of Article 370, banning of instant triple talaq…

That is why we are hopeful. The PM has been talking about it, not just in words but also through his actions. We don’t have to demand this, as he is conscious of it and has been taking extra care to ensure that women’s representation in BJP candidates’ lists increases. He has been working to convince state units to see that more women get opportunities. So we feel positive about the Bill.

You are from Tamil Nadu in the South, where the BJP is struggling to expand its hold. Grassroots leaders say it is difficult to dislodge Dravidian politics. Does the BJP have a special plan for the South ahead of the next elections?

Each state has its own issues and challenges. The BJP is aware that each state has its own political culture and dynamics. Understanding the needs and aspirations of the people in every state is also important. We are working on it. The BJP has seen positive developments in Telangana – a lot of Congress leaders are joining us. The party got more votes than the Congress there in recent by-elections. Increasingly, the BJP is occupying the space previously filled by the Congress. We are also working on a strategy for Andhra Pradesh, where we have a friendly party in power. In Tamil Nadu, after 22 years, we have four MLAs in the Assembly. We are part of the ruling alliance in Puducherry. Across the southern states, the BJP has been successfully exposing family-centric politics, its disadvantages, as well as corruption. We assure the people that a BJP government will be transparent.

The South is moulded by reformist movements and politics that are different from the North. Shouldn’t the BJP have a different approach there?

We have different approaches for different states. But it’s not magic, and we can’t win them (the southern states) overnight.

As regards the Sanatan Dharma controversy, there is a viewpoint that Hindutva and women’s emancipation are contradictory, as the role of women in Hindutva is peripheral. How do you tackle this?

That’s false propaganda by the Opposition, just as they claim the BJP is against the minorities. Yet, it was the BJP that picked A P J Abdul Kalam, and now a tribal woman, as President. If Hindutva is not bothered about women, how could this government have taken so many steps for women’s empowerment? Most of the leaders in our party are from the RSS ideology. The PM himself was an RSS pracharak.

We are trying to change this false perception by giving representation to more women and targeting schemes at women. While Ujjwala, toilets and direct benefit transfers help women directly, they also benefit from schemes that are not overtly targeted at them, like the Mudra Yojana, a majority of whose beneficiaries are women.

We are concentrating on bringing more women into politics, involving them in electoral politics and schemes. We reach out to women to make them understand politics, as well as the projects for them.

There is not a single woman in the government-appointed ‘one nation one election’ committee.

The system won’t change with token women’s representation in such committees, or a tribal President or a woman Cabinet minister. As far as this committee is concerned, there should have been one. We expect women’s representation in all significant committees.