Mumbai: BJP leaders protested in Nashik on Wednesday against Congress MP Rahul Gandhi’s visit to the city, accusing his party of opposing women’s representation in Parliament and state assemblies.
The allegation prompted senior party leader and former Maharashtra chief minister Prithviraj Chavan to counter that the ruling party should first “ensure the entry of women to the RSS headquarters”.
Earlier in the day, Nashik Mayor Himgauri Aher-Adake, other women BJP leaders and supporters staged a protest march in the north Maharashtra city. The protesters, many of whom wore black sarees, raised “Go back” slogans against Gandhi.
Gandhi, the Leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha, is on a visit to Nashik on Wednesday to address the participants of its organisational revamp exercise in the city.
He recently held ‘Chhatron Ki Goonj’ youth outreach programmes in parts of the country.
A Constitution Amendment Bill to implement reservation for women in legislatures in 2029 and increase the number of seats in the Lok Sabha was defeated in the Lower House in April this year.
The bill intended to provide 33 per cent reservation for women in the Lok Sabha and state assemblies.
“My question to Rahul Gandhi is, why does your party oppose women’s representation in the Lok Sabha and Vidhan Sabha? Rahul Gandhi should answer this today,” Nashik BJP MLA Devayani Farande told reporters.
“If the country is to be made economically strong, we have seen large-scale empowerment of women after they received reservation in local self-government bodies. Women have become aware of their rights,” she said.
Farande also hit out at Gandhi over his organisation’s political stance on ??, asking whether his party was still the ‘Congress’ or had become a “Cockroach Party”, and said he should answer this to the people.
Women had played a prominent role in India’s history, Nashik Mayor Himgauri Aher-Adake noted and criticised Gandhi for allegedly opposing the “Nari Shakti Vandan” legislation.
“What has Rahul Gandhi or his party done for women’s empowerment or bringing them forward?” she asked.
