Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) leader Kavitha Kalvakuntla has made an appeal to all political parties to support the passage of the Women's Reservation Bill in the upcoming special session of the Parliament. Kavitha, a former MP from Nizamabad, is currently an MLC in Telangana, and also the daughter of the Telangana Chief Minister and BRS chief K Chandrashekar Rao. She has written to the presidents of 47 political parties with representation in the Parliament, urging them to unite and pass the long-awaited Women's Reservation Bill. BRS recently announced most of its candidates for the upcoming Telangana Assembly elections, and the party – especially Kavitha – were ridiculed by the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in the state for giving tickets to very few women, months after Kavitha led a protest in Delhi demanding that the Women’s Reservation Bill be tabled in the Parliament.
In her letter, Kavitha called upon the various political parties to set aside political differences and prioritise the Women's Reservation Bill, which seeks to reserve 33% of seats in the Lok Sabha and state Legislative Assemblies for women. “Women constitute approximately 50% of our population and play a pivotal role in every aspect of our society. Yet, when it comes to legislative representation in State Assemblies and in our National Parliament, their presence remains woefully inadequate. This glaring disparity hampers our nation’s progress and undermines the principles of democracy upon which our great country is built,” she wrote.
Kavitha highlighted in her letter that around 14 lakh elected women representatives are already active in public life, demonstrating their ability to lead and govern effectively. She underlined that it is high time we recognise this and provide them with the opportunity to excel on a larger stage.
“Regrettably, there has been a conspicuous lack of sincerity among various stakeholders to make space for women in our legislative bodies. The Women’s Reservation Bill, which seeks to reserve 33% of seats for women in the Lok Sabha and state legislative assemblies, has been pending for far too long. This delay is a disheartening testament to the unwillingness of our political establishment to address this issue adequately,” her letter reads.
This is not the first time Kavitha has made a public appeal about the Bill. In March this year, Kavitha sat on a hunger strike in New Delhi demanding the tabling and passing of the Women's Reservation Bill. She has been engaging with political parties and civil society organisations across India to escalate the demand for the Bill, and just a few days ago, she announced her plans for another protest in the national capital during the winter session of the Parliament. Her announcement came after the Congress and BJP mocked her protest citing how the BRS had only six women out of the 115 candidates contesting for upcoming Assembly elections in Telangana.
The leaders who received Kavitha’s letters include BJP president JP Nadda, Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge, YSR Congress Party president and Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister YS Jagan Mohan Reddy, Telugu Desam Party chief N Chandrababu Naidu, Nationalist Congress Party leader Sharad Pawar, Rashtriya Janata Dal leader Lalu Prasad, Samajwadi party leader Akhilesh Yadav, Aam Aadmi Party leader and Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal, and Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen (MIM) president Asaduddin Owaisi, among others.
With inputs from IANS
Let's unite for a stronger, more inclusive Democracy!
— Kavitha Kalvakuntla (@RaoKavitha) September 5, 2023
I humbly appeal to all political parties, urging them to come together in support of the Women's Reservation Bill in the upcoming special session of Parliament. It's time for us to empower women and ensure their rightful… pic.twitter.com/DLGN6rbZGM