Nine Oppn parties join K Kavitha at dharna for Women’s Reservation Bill: ‘Table it in this session’

Inaugurating the protest, CPM general secretary Sitaram Yechury said the Left parties would stand with the BRS. (Express Photo)

The Samajwadi Party (SP) and the Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) — which had blocked passage of the Women’s Reservation Bill during the UPA II period because of a demand for a quota within quota for Scheduled Castes (SCs), Scheduled Tribes (STs), Other Backward Classes (OBCs) and minorities in the Bill — sent their representatives.

Among those who joined Kavitha to express solidarity were CPI(M) general secretary Sitaram Yechury, Aam Aadmi Party’s (AAP) Sanjay Singh, RJD’s Shyam Rajak, CPI’s K Narayana, Nationalist Congress Party’s (NCP) Seema Malik, SP’s Pooja Shukla, and Akali Dal’s Naresh Gujral. Yechury inaugurated Kavitha’s daylong symbolic hunger strike. The BRS had said earlier that 12 political parties had confirmed participation.

Starting the demonstration, Yechury said the Left parties would stand with the BRS and fight with it till the Women’s Reservation Bill, providing for the reservation of one-third of the total number of seats in state Assemblies and Parliament for women, is passed in Parliament. He said Prime Minister Narendra Modi had promised that his government would make reservation for women in Parliament and Assemblies a reality.

“He (PM Modi) has been in power for nine years. The Bill has not even been introduced,” he said, arguing that the representation of women in Parliament is now dismal. In the Lok Sabha, only 14 per cent of the MPs are women. In the Rajya Sabha, it is 11 per cent, he said. “We ask the government to table the Bill in this session itself,” he said.

The landmark Women’s Reservation Bill was passed in the Rajya Sabha on 9th March 2010, ENTIRELY due to the efforts of the Congress leadership. But it could not find support in Lok Sabha. The Bill has not lapsed. It is alive and pending. What has stopped it from being revived?

— Jairam Ramesh (@Jairam_Ramesh) March 10, 2023

Flanked by BRS leaders including state ministers Sabitha Indra Reddy and Satyavathi  Rathod, Kavitha said, “If India needs to develop at par with other countries of the world, then women should be given more representation in politics. Therefore, the Women’s Reservation Bill becomes much more important.” She said the BJP had a full majority in Parliament and hence had a historic opportunity to pass the Bill.

The show of unity by Opposition parties came a day ahead of Kavitha’s appearance before the Enforcement Directorate (ED). The agency had initially summoned Kavitha to record her statement on March 9. However, the BRS leader, while reiterating that she would fully cooperate with the investigation, said she would be able to appear only on March 11 due to prior commitments.

Kavitha termed the ED’s summons as a “political witch hunt” and “political victimisation”. “Dirty politics is being played in the name of investigation. I have reiterated several times that I have nothing to do with the liquor case or the investigation,” she said.

The Congress, which did not attend the protest, pointed out that the Bill was passed in the Rajya Sabha in 2010 because of the efforts of its leadership. “The landmark Women’s Reservation Bill was passed in the Rajya Sabha on 9th March 2010, ENTIRELY due to the efforts of the Congress leadership. But it could not find support in Lok Sabha. The Bill has not lapsed. It is alive and pending. What has stopped it from being revived?” Congress communications head Jairam Ramesh tweeted.