By Online Desk
Mamata Banerjee’s Trinamool Congress was among the few parties that did not reveal its cards on the Women’s Reservation Bill on the first day of discussion in Parliament. Even though the party did not oppose the bill per se, it did not announce its support either.
Instead, it alleged the BJP-led Central government had ulterior motives behind passing the Women’s Reservation Bill on the eve of the 2024 Lok Sabha elections.
“What took you [BJP] so long, why wasn’t the bill brought in 2014 just before the elections? What they are trying to prove to the people? Is this a gimmick like pulling out a rabbit from the hat and placing it before the country?,” asked Kakoli Ghosh Dastidar, the first member from TMC to participate in the parliamentary discussions on the Bill.
The TMC was among a handful of parties who insinuated that the government is not serious in its move to implement the women’s reservation bill and that the reservation will not come into effect before the elections that are expected to take place in April-May next year.
Kakoli pointed out that the bill seems to be making the reservation conditional on the controversial delimitation proposal that will see south Indian states lose strength in the Indian parliament, while states like Uttar Pradesh will gain strength. The delimitation exercise is expected to add to BJP’s strength as the party gets most of its MPs from the Hindi belt.
“The government has raised many questions against themselves. Why is the delimitation linked with the reservation? It is a sinister move,” she said adding that there will be more members in the parliament from states which have failed in population control and have a record of poor women empowerment.
ALSO READ | Women’s bill: Countries with highest proportion of women MPs have reservation within parties
Parties such as BRS and CPI also echoed such concerns with CPI claiming that the bill may not get implemented before 2034 even if it is passed in its present shape.
Kakoli further claimed that India as a country needs to concentrate on catching perpetrators who harass and molest women rather than focusing on changing the names of cities and the nation.
“Rather than allocating vast sums of money towards construction of structures and altering names of cities and nations I would urge my colleagues in BJP to prioritize transformation of the mindset,” she said.
“It is imperative that they demonstrate genuine respect for women by aligning their actions with their words moreover it is crucial to take appropriate action against individuals who are harming the women, showing disrespect,” she added.
Blaming the BJP for its inaction during the wrestlers’ sexual harassment row, Kakoli questioned the BJP as to why the party took no action when the women wrestlers complained of sexual harassment against one of their own leaders.
“The golden girls of the country who got us medals have been sexually harassed and they were protesting in Jantar Mantar but the perpetrator sits here today; Brij Bhushan Singh has not been brought to work, so if you are really interested in taking care of the women’s betterment and progress, then why don’t you take action against the perpetrator,” asked the TMC MP.
“Why don’t you take action against those people who have been molesting and killing women in Hathras, Unnao little Asifa was stoned to death in Jammu and the wrestlers have been manhandled and molested,” said Kakoli.
The West Bengal MP further alleged that several women laborers under the 100-day employment scheme have been exploited.
“There are many women who have worked in the field but their payment has not been released yet. That is also insulting the women laborers,” she remarked.
Kakoli also reminded everyone about the fierce opposition mounted by the BJP when the women’s reservation bill was introduced more than a decade ago. She said the party which is trying to act as if it is genuinely interested in women’s empowerment had in fact questioned the bill when Sonia Gandhi advocated for the same back in 2010.
Kakoli quoted the BJP leader saying, “In 2010, the BJP IT cell head asked Sonia if by pushing the Women’s Reservation Bill, Congress has created another constitution for itself. When we should be talking and moving away from reservations of all kinds we have a new way of demanding reservation for women.”
Kakoli further said that it was ironic that a party speaking of women’s empowerment despite being in power in over 16 states in the country doesn’t have one single woman chief minister.
“We are actually delighted to witness the realization of our leader Mamta Banerjee’s vision where women’s rightful entitlements are being recognized and initiatives are being taken to uphold the vision throughout the country she passionately advocated for the implementation of women’s reservation,” she added.
“We have more women than anywhere in the country, in the Rajya Sabha more than 33%, within the party without any forceful reservation being implemented through any parliamentary procedure or through the election commission at the moment TMC has nearly 40% of women members,” she said.
She further quoted the National Crime Records Bureau’s (NCRB) data that West Bengal registered the least number of rape cases in the country. UP had the highest number of molestation cases at 56,000 followed by Rajasthan at 40,000 and Maharashtra at 39,000.
Mamata Banerjee’s Trinamool Congress was among the few parties that did not reveal its cards on the Women’s Reservation Bill on the first day of discussion in Parliament. Even though the party did not oppose the bill per se, it did not announce its support either.
Instead, it alleged the BJP-led Central government had ulterior motives behind passing the Women’s Reservation Bill on the eve of the 2024 Lok Sabha elections.
“What took you [BJP] so long, why wasn’t the bill brought in 2014 just before the elections? What they are trying to prove to the people? Is this a gimmick like pulling out a rabbit from the hat and placing it before the country?,” asked Kakoli Ghosh Dastidar, the first member from TMC to participate in the parliamentary discussions on the Bill. googletag.cmd.push(function() {googletag.display(‘div-gpt-ad-8052921-2′); });
The TMC was among a handful of parties who insinuated that the government is not serious in its move to implement the women’s reservation bill and that the reservation will not come into effect before the elections that are expected to take place in April-May next year.
Kakoli pointed out that the bill seems to be making the reservation conditional on the controversial delimitation proposal that will see south Indian states lose strength in the Indian parliament, while states like Uttar Pradesh will gain strength. The delimitation exercise is expected to add to BJP’s strength as the party gets most of its MPs from the Hindi belt.
“The government has raised many questions against themselves. Why is the delimitation linked with the reservation? It is a sinister move,” she said adding that there will be more members in the parliament from states which have failed in population control and have a record of poor women empowerment.
ALSO READ | Women’s bill: Countries with highest proportion of women MPs have reservation within parties
Parties such as BRS and CPI also echoed such concerns with CPI claiming that the bill may not get implemented before 2034 even if it is passed in its present shape.
Kakoli further claimed that India as a country needs to concentrate on catching perpetrators who harass and molest women rather than focusing on changing the names of cities and the nation.
“Rather than allocating vast sums of money towards construction of structures and altering names of cities and nations I would urge my colleagues in BJP to prioritize transformation of the mindset,” she said.
“It is imperative that they demonstrate genuine respect for women by aligning their actions with their words moreover it is crucial to take appropriate action against individuals who are harming the women, showing disrespect,” she added.
Blaming the BJP for its inaction during the wrestlers’ sexual harassment row, Kakoli questioned the BJP as to why the party took no action when the women wrestlers complained of sexual harassment against one of their own leaders.
“The golden girls of the country who got us medals have been sexually harassed and they were protesting in Jantar Mantar but the perpetrator sits here today; Brij Bhushan Singh has not been brought to work, so if you are really interested in taking care of the women’s betterment and progress, then why don’t you take action against the perpetrator,” asked the TMC MP.
“Why don’t you take action against those people who have been molesting and killing women in Hathras, Unnao little Asifa was stoned to death in Jammu and the wrestlers have been manhandled and molested,” said Kakoli.
The West Bengal MP further alleged that several women laborers under the 100-day employment scheme have been exploited.
“There are many women who have worked in the field but their payment has not been released yet. That is also insulting the women laborers,” she remarked.
Kakoli also reminded everyone about the fierce opposition mounted by the BJP when the women’s reservation bill was introduced more than a decade ago. She said the party which is trying to act as if it is genuinely interested in women’s empowerment had in fact questioned the bill when Sonia Gandhi advocated for the same back in 2010.
Kakoli quoted the BJP leader saying, “In 2010, the BJP IT cell head asked Sonia if by pushing the Women’s Reservation Bill, Congress has created another constitution for itself. When we should be talking and moving away from reservations of all kinds we have a new way of demanding reservation for women.”
Kakoli further said that it was ironic that a party speaking of women’s empowerment despite being in power in over 16 states in the country doesn’t have one single woman chief minister.
“We are actually delighted to witness the realization of our leader Mamta Banerjee’s vision where women’s rightful entitlements are being recognized and initiatives are being taken to uphold the vision throughout the country she passionately advocated for the implementation of women’s reservation,” she added.
“We have more women than anywhere in the country, in the Rajya Sabha more than 33%, within the party without any forceful reservation being implemented through any parliamentary procedure or through the election commission at the moment TMC has nearly 40% of women members,” she said.
She further quoted the National Crime Records Bureau’s (NCRB) data that West Bengal registered the least number of rape cases in the country. UP had the highest number of molestation cases at 56,000 followed by Rajasthan at 40,000 and Maharashtra at 39,000.
