Winter Session: Rahul writes to Congress CMs for passage of Women’s Reservation Bill
New Delhi, Dec 9: Congress chief Rahul Gandhi has written to Congress/alliance governments in the states to have a resolution passed in their respective assemblies seeking one-third reservation for women in the Lok Sabha and state legislative assemblies.
In a letter written to, Rahul has stated, "In order to affirm our support to the passage of the (Women's Reservation) Bill, it would be expedient for the State Assembly to pass a resolution calling for the reservation of one-third of the seats in the Lok Sabha and legislative assemblies for women, in the next session."
The 3-day long Winter Session of Punjab Assembly will commence on 13 December.
Mahila
Congress
president
Sushmita
Dev
had
also
written
to
all
Congress-led
state
governments,
regarding
Women's
Reservation
Bill
vide
her
letter
dated
23
November,
2018.
On
16
July,
2018,
Rahul
wrote
to
Prime
Minister
Narendra
Modi,
asking
him
to
ensure
the
passage
of
the
Women's
Reservation
Bill
in
the
Monsoon
Session
of
Parliament.
In the letter, the Congress chief offered his party's unconditional support to the Bill and said the time had come for change, and for women to take their rightful place in State legislatures and Parliament.
Rahul also urged Modi to ensure that the Bill gets passed during the itself so that women can participate "more meaningfully" in the State elections later this year and in the Lok Sabha polls next year.
"Mr Prime Minister, in many of your public rallies you have spoken about your passion for empowering women and involving them more meaningfully in public life.
"What better way to demonstrate your commitment to the cause of women, than by offering your unconditional support to the passage of the Women's Reservation Bill? And what better time, than the upcoming session of Parliament? Any further delay will make it impossible to implement before the next general elections," the Amethi MP said in the letter to the PM.
Women's Reservation Bill, which was passed by the Rajya Sabha on March 9, 2010, had been stalled in the Lok Sabha on one pretext or the other for over eight years now. The Legislative Assemblies of Odisha and Andhra Pradesh have already taken a lead and passed a resolution calling on the Central government to enact the Women's Reservation.