Mahila Congress wants 33pc quota in party tickets for women

Nagpur, June 27 (UNI) The women's wing of the Congress has demanded a quota of 33 per cent for women in the party's tickets for the Lok Sabha election, due next year, pending the passage of the Women's Reservation Bill through Parliament.

Speaking to reporters here today, All India Mahila Congress President Prabha Thakur said the Women's Reservation Bill had been tabled before the Rajya Sabha and was likely to be passed during the forthcoming Monsoon Session of Parliament. The frontal organisation would demand that during the pendency of the bill, the leadership should reserve a third of the party's tickets for women, she said.

The tickets, however, ought to be given only to deserving women candidates who had winning potential by virtue of their experience in social work and politics, Dr Thakur said. The party leadership had asked the state units to prepare a list of women activists who were active, experienced, popular and had winning potential, she said.

Congress President Sonia Gandhi was herself keen on the quota for women in Parliament and state legislatures, Dr Thakur said, adding that the Congress was trying to evolve a consensus among its associate parties to ensure a smooth passage for the bill.

Dr Thakur, who is a member of the Rajya Sabha, said that her front would also demand 33 per cent reservation for women in Central and state government jobs and a similar quota for women in promotions, in posts at all levels. The wing would also form a separate cell for women in agriculture (Mahila Kisan Cell) shortly, she added.

Dr Thakur was in the city to attend a women's convention hosted by the state unit of the Mahila Congress today.

UNI AB MAZ RL DS1455