TPCC Chief: TRS should support Womens Reservation Bill

Hyderabad, Sept 25: The Telangana Pradesh Congress Committee (TPCC) Chief N Uttam Kumar Reddy has demanded on Sunday that Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS) should support Congress president Sonia Gandhi's demand for the passing of Women's Reservation Bill in the Lok Sabha.

While Speaking at the Bathukamma celebrations, organized by Mahila Congress at Gandhi Bhavan, Mr. Reddy said that the Congress party has always favored empowerment of women. Unlike other parties, whose vision never crossed the peripheries of socio-economic upliftment, the Congress party ensured political empowerment of women.

"It was former Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi who originally came up with the thought of giving political reservation to women. As the then Prime Minister, Rajiv Gandhi had brought Amendment in the Panchayati Raj Act, 1992 granting 33 per cent reservation to women in the Panchayati Raj Institutions and local bodies.



Although the opposition parties opposed the Bill in the Rajya Sabha in 1989, it was later passed in both the Houses of Parliament in 1993 which became 73rd and 74th Constitutional Amendment. This was a revolutionary step which ensured real empowerment of women at the village level," he said.

Mr Reddy said that the then UPA Government, under the guidance and leadership of Sonia Gandhi, also passed the Women's Reservation Bill in Rajya Sabha on March 9, 2010. But it got stuck in the Lok Sabha due to one reason or the other.

"Congress party had total commitment but lacked adequate numbers in Lok Sabha to pass the Bill during the previous UPA regime. Since BJP Govt did nothing to pass the Bill during the last three years, Ms Gandhi had now written a letter to Prime Minister Narendra Modi asking him to take advantage of BJP's strength in Lok Sabha to pass the Bill," he said