The dharna by K Kavitha, a Member of Legislative Council (MLC) in Telangana from the Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS), at Jantar Mantar in Delhi, demanding the tabling of the bill for 33% reservation for women in Parliament, has managed to unite the Opposition on women’s issues.
Kavitha concluded her day-long hunger strike at 4 pm on Friday. She said: “We have taken signatures from representatives across political parties and organisations in support of the movement and take it to the Hon’ble President of India. Today, the issue is not about Kavitha or a state, but it is the country’s issue. How can you grow if you keep half the population outside? How can a bird fly with one wing? Both men and women need equal representation.”
However, with ‘Women’s Day’ having just passed, the rival parties did not lose any time to “expose” what they termed “Kavitha’s hypocrisy”.
A look at who said what:
YSTRP
YSR Telangana Party (YSRTP) president YS Sharmila, who completed a 1.5-year padayatra in the state recently, pointed out that Telangana has the highest number of crimes against women in South India. Speaking to News18, she said: “It’s laughable. In 2014, only six women from her party, run by her father, became MLAs, while the number was four in 2018. KCR’s first government didn’t have a woman minister… This [dharna] is because of the liquor case… Where is 33% in the TRS?”
BJP
Upping the ante on women-centric issues after Kavitha announced her dharna, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) observed ‘Mahila Gosa-BJP Bharosa’ programme to highlight “atrocities against women” in Telangana.
During his speech, BJP state vice-president N.V.S.S. Prabhakar said: “You know how many atrocities are being committed against women in the state. The KCR government does not care …”
Blaming the BRS for the death of Dr Dr D Preethi, the medical student who was studying at Kakatiya Medical College in Warangal, Meenakshi Girdhari, Telangana BJP NGO convener, said: “Their own member left the BRS alleging harassment by a party MLA. When they cannot protect the interests of women in their state, what is the point of staging a dharna in Delhi?”
The BJP has claimed that Dr Preethi’s suicide was a murder, and not suicide. On Friday, Telangana BJP Mahila Morcha wrote to the National Commission of Women, seeking a Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) probe into the alleged suicide of Dr Preethi.
CONGRESS
Congress leader Palvai Sravanthi feels the BRS has failed to protect the interests of its party leaders too. “After the BRS came to power, we have not seen many measures for women safety. Even a woman of stature felt unsafe in their party. When the BRS formed the government in 2014, there was no woman in the cabinet…”
“Woman trafficking has been a burning issue in the state for a long time. We don’t know how the Telangana government is addressing it. The Women Reservation Bill, which Kavitha is talking about, had been brought in by the Congress in 2008. It was passed in Parliament and is still live,” she added.
TDP
Claiming that the indicators for women safety and well-being in the state are abysmal, T Jyothsna, Telangana Telugu Mahila president from the Telugu Desam Party (TDP), told News18: “Telangana stands first in women trafficking, fifth in atrocities against Dalit women, sixth in atrocities against tribal women. There has been a rise in Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) cases. There are no toilets in almost 50% of government schools. Child marriage, too, has been on the rise.”
“Kavitha talks of poll promises of the Central government, but the poll promises that her party gave to women in 2014 — universities and banks for women — are still to be fulfilled. The TDP had demanded a high-level monitoring committee to check on these issues, but no progress has been made till date. Ironically, Kavitha has never met the family of any victim of sexual assault or other offences in the state,” she added.
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