‘Slept on this demand’: Congress cites Sonia, Rahul letters to PM on women’s quota to rap govt

Indian National Congress accused the Narendra Modi government of delaying the Women’s Reservation Bill, citing ignored letters from Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi and alleging attempts to link the issue with delimitation reforms

New Delhi: The Congress on Tuesday accused the Narendra Modi government of inaction over its repeated demands to implement the women’s quota, alleging that senior party leaders Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi’s letters on the issue were ignored till the recent attempt to delay the issue by adding the delimitation rider.

Circulating a copy of a letter written by Sonia Gandhi to Prime Minister Narendra Modi on September 20, 2017, Congress General Secretary in-charge Communications Jairam Ramesh said: “In 2017, Mrs Sonia Gandhi had also written to PM Narendra Modi on the passage of the Women’s Reservation Bill in her capacity as the then Congress President.”

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“The Congress Party’s stance has been unflinching and unchanged. It is the Modi Government that slept on this demand and has then tried to delay it by linking it to delimitation,” he said.

In an attempt to blunt attempts to blame the Congress for the defeat of the women’s reservation amendment bill in the Lok Sabha, Ramesh said on X that Rahul Gandhi, the then party President, had also written to the PM on the issue on July 16, 2018.

In his letter, Rahul Gandhi had written: “I write to request your support to ensure the passage of the Women’s Reservation Bill in the upcoming monsoon session of Parliament.”

“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?” he had written.

“In order to raise awareness and build public support, the Congress party has collected over 3.2 million signatures of Indian men and women in support of the bill. We submit these signatures to your care and humbly seek your support in ensuring that the Women’s Reservation Bill is passed by Parliament so that women can participate more meaningfully in the 2019 General Elections and the state elections later this year,” he has said.

“Eight years later, the Prime Minister – keen to delay the implementation of reservations by linking it to delimitation – is still to act on this demand,” Ramesh said.