Jantar Mantar protest: Opposition parties demand Women’s Reservation Bill in Parliament

Ending the day-long hunger strike at 4 pm in Delhi's Jantar Mantar, Kavitha said they would approach President Murmu for passage of Women's Reservation Bill in the upcoming parliament sessions

Hyderabad: In one of the biggest shows of strength of a unified opposition in recent times, leaders from 12 opposition parties and women’s organisations from 29 States came together under the aegis of the Bharat Jagruthi led by BRS MLC K Kavitha to stage a day-long hunger strike in Delhi’s iconic Jantar Mantar on Friday, demanding the introduction of the Women’s Reservation Bill in the Parliament.

Ending the day-long hunger strike at 4 pm, Kavitha said they would approach President Droupadi Murmu for passage of the Bill in the upcoming parliament sessions.

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“We will take the signatures collected in support of the bill from various political party representatives and organisations to the President. I will request madam President to take up this issue,” she said. The Women’s Reservation Bill is aimed to provide 33 per cent reservation for women in State Assemblies and the Parliament.

BRS Parliamentary Party leader K Keshava Rao and CPI national secretary K Narayana offered her lemon juice marking conclusion of the hunger strike, which was inaugurated in the morning by CPI (M) general secretary Sitaram Yechury.

Addressing the gathering Kavitha said the issue of the Women’s Reservation Bill does not pertain to only a person or a State, but to the entire country. “How can India grow if half of its population is kept outside? How can a bird fly with one wing? Both men and women need equal representation,” she asserted.

Emphasising the need to pass the Women’s Reservation Bill soon, the BRS MLC said the world was progressing only by taking women on equal footing with men, which has not happened in India.

“If India has to develop on par with the rest of the world, women should get equal participation in the political field. This bill is pending since 27 years,” she said.

Asserting that she would not stop fighting until the bill was passed in the Parliament, she said the one-day hunger strike was just the beginning of a long fight that would be expanded across the country.

“This Bill will help in the development of the nation. I request the BJP-led central government to introduce this Bill in parliament,” she said, pointing out that the Modi government had full majority to get the Bill passed in the Parliament.

“When the BJP government introduces this bill, we will bring all the political parties together and try supporting you in the Parliament,” she added.

“In 1996, Deve Gowda ji introduced it after agitation by women. My salute to leaders of that time, Brinda Karat, Sonia Gandhi, Sushma Swaraj and others who ran a movement to make it possible,” she said.

Leaders from 12 political parties, including Yechury, Narayana, National Council For Women former member Subhashini Ali, Sanjay Singh from AAP, Shiv Sena (Uddhav) delegation, Naresh Gujral from Akali Dal, Anjum Javed Mirza from PDP, Dr Shami Firdous from National Conference, Sushmita Dev from Trinamool Congress, KC Tyagi from JD(U), Dr Seema Malik from NCP, Pooja Shukla from Samajwadi party and Shyam Rajak from RJD among others participated in the protest.

Though the Congress refrained from participating in the dharna despite an invitation from Kavitha, party general secretary Jairam Ramesh and leader Alka Lamba demanded the BJP to make its stand clear on the Bill and table it in the Lok Sabha in the upcoming second part of the Budget Session of Parliament starting on March 13.

BRS Ministers Satyavathi Rathod and P Sabitha Indra Reddy, MPs K Keshava Rao, Nama Nageshwar Rao, B Venkatesh Netha, J Santosh Kumar, Vaddiraju Ravichandra along with several women MLAs and MLCs as well as elected representatives, participated in the dharna. Women leaders from Andhra Pradesh were also present.

While around 600 members sat on the hunger strike, over 6,000 people participated in the demonstration.