Following reports that the Women's Reservation Bill in India might be discussed at the upcoming extraordinary session of parliament starting on September 18.
Kavitha, a lawmaker from the Bharat Rashtra Samiti (BRS) political party, issued an appeal to 47 political parties on Tuesday, pleading with them to work together and pass the Women's Reservation Bill in the approaching special session of parliament.
Kavitha wrote a letter to the parties urging them to put aside their differences and prioritize the Women's Reservation Bill, which will reserve 33 per cent of seats in the Lok Sabha and state Legislative Assemblies for women.
“The issue of representation of women in Parliament is of utmost importance and I request all political parties with folded hands to take up this issue and rise above political partisanship,” she said.
“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 our 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 added.
Kavitha's letter was sent to Bharatiya Janata Party chief JP Nadda, Samajwadi Party's Akhilesh Yadav, DMK's MK Stalin, NCP's Sharad Pawar, Congress's Mallikarjun Kharge, YSRCP's Jagan Mohan Reddy among others.
On Monday, Vice President Jagdeep Dhankhar predicted that a change to the Constitution would eventually grant women equal representation in parliament.
Kavitha has made similar public pleas on the Bill before. In March, Kavitha began a hunger strike in Delhi demanding the introduction and passage of the Women's Reservation Bill.
The Women's Reservation Bill was enacted with overwhelming support in the Rajya Sabha by the United Progressive Alliance (UPA) administration on March 9, 2010, which was led by the Congress. Former Congress president Sonia Gandhi has advocated for this Bill, and has written to PM Modi twice to guarantee his party's support for the Bill.
