Irani Asks Rahul To Back Early Rollout Of Women’s Quota
Smriti Irani urged Rahul Gandhi to support early implementation of 33% women’s reservation and called for the full rendition of Vande Mataram at Congress HQ.
BJP general secretary Smriti Irani on Sunday challenged Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi to demonstrate his support for women by backing the immediate implementation of 33 per cent reservation for women in legislatures. She also asked him to arrange for the full version of Vande Mataram, including verses invoking Goddess Durga, to be sung at the Congress headquarters.
Interacting with girl students at the ‘Chhatron Ki Goonj’ outreach programme in Pune on Saturday, Gandhi urged them to “smash patriarchy” and criticised the “Manusmriti mindset”, saying it forces women to remain under the authority of male relatives at every stage of their lives. The former Congress president also said violence was used to prevent women from progressing and that 80 per cent of women faced harassment.
Responding to his remarks, Irani said: “Since he has invoked religion, I have a request to that prominent leader of the Congress. The verses of Vande Mataram, some of which were halted at the Congress headquarters, contain a reference to Goddess Durga.”
She was referring to the row over the Congress’ decision to sing only two stanzas of Vande Mataram at party programmes, which the BJP has described as an “insult” to the national song.
The former Union minister said: “Our religious ethos of Hindus not only upholds the tenet of ‘Yatra naryastu pujyante ramante tatra devatah’ (where women are honoured, divinity resides), but we also worship goddesses like Bhagwati, Lakshmi and Saraswati.”
“We worship Goddess Durga as the embodiment of ‘Shakti’ (divine power). I urge that the full rendition of Vande Mataram, including the verses invoking Goddess Durga, be performed at the Congress headquarters,” she said.
Irani said Gandhi could put his words in support of women and their leadership into action by backing the immediate implementation of the women’s reservation law and arranging for the full version of Vande Mataram to be sung at the Congress headquarters.
She noted that Parliament had already passed legislation providing 33 per cent reservation for women in the Lok Sabha and state Assemblies.
“Former Congress president Rahul Gandhi stated at an event that he supports women. Since a key Congress leader has spoken in support of women and women’s leadership, I humbly request him to support Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s initiative to swiftly implement the Bill granting 33 per cent reservation for women in Parliament,” she said.
