The opposition alliance is going to fight for the implementation of the women’s reservation bill, former Congress president Sonia Gandhi said on Saturday as she recalled her party’s efforts to bring in the bill.
Addressing a Women’s Rights Conference in Chennai organised by the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam, an ally of the Congress in Tamil Nadu, Gandhi said though the bill has been passed in parliament, "as we all know it is still a long way to come”.
The bill to reserve one-third of the seats in the Lok Sabha and state assemblies for women received the parliamentary nod last month. The law, however, will come into force after the delimitation exercise, which is on freeze till 2026. Before the delimitation, a census has to be carried out.
The Congress, however, has been questioning this clause and demanding that the law be implemented at the earliest.
Gandhi said the historic 33 per cent reservation introduced by her husband and former prime minister Rajiv Gandhi in Panchayati Raj had spurred an entirely new phenomenon of women leadership at the grassroots level.
It was a vital stepping stone towards the reservation on a similar one thirds of seats in the legislative bodies which the Congress pioneered in Parliament and outside, she said.
"Now, the Women's Reservation Bill has finally been passed due to 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,” Gandhi said.
"We are going to fight for it till we eventually get that whether you men like it or not,” she added.
Gandhi heaped praise on former chief ministers C.N. Annadurai and M. Karunanidhi for laying the foundation for “incredible changes” in the status and opportunities for women in Tamil Nadu.
"Today Tamil Nadu stands as a beacon of women's equality and women's development,” she said.
The Congress leader also lauded the state government's initiatives like the mid-day meals for students, the promotion of women empowerment which includes education.
Besides Gandhi, the event saw the participation of key other women INDIA leaders including Priyanka Gandhi, Mehbooba Mufti and Supriya Sule.