Women Day: BJP Begins Work Within on Women’s Reservation
PM Narendra Modi and BJP chief JP Nadda (Image credit PMO & BJP)
BJP Organisational Polls Mandate ‘Unofficial’ Women Quota
By Amit Kumar
New Delhi, March 8: The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) is bracing up for rollout of the women’s reservation in parliament and assemblies. The saffron outfit has mandated to expand the women workers’ base.
The BJP is currently in the midst of organizational elections. The ruling outfit at the Centre has mandated a slew of instructions to the state units for the polls.
“At the booth level, 20 per cent women workers of the BJP need to be elected. This is at the bottom of the plan of the BJP to prepare for the rollout of women reservation las,” said a senior BJP functionary.
Parliament has passed the ‘Women’s Reservation Bill’ after decades’ delay. The law is likely to come in effect after delimitation. The delimitation exercise is likely after the Census 2021 is held.
“The women reservation in parliament and state assemblies may come in force for the 2029 Lok Sabha elections. The BJP has begun preparing now,” said a highly placed source in the BJP.
Women participation in legislature is abysmal. Only five women candidates won in the just concluded Delhi Assembly elections. Women MLAs constitute just seven per cent of the total strength of 70 in the Delhi Assembly.
“The BJP has taken note of the fact that there is a very small pool of women workers to choose for the elections. This can be addressed only if more women are elected at the grassroots levels,” said the high placed source in the BJP.
He also stated that “instructions have been given to the state units to replicate the booth level mandate at blocks and districts”. “We will assess the strength of the elected women leaders at the Shakti Kendras, blocks, and districts. Top echelon of the BJP leadership has called for broadening the elected women leaders’ bases in states,” added the source.
There are 74 women MPs in the Lok Sabha. They constitute almost 13.5 per cent of the total strength in the lower house of parliament. There were 78 women MPs in the previous Lok Sabha.
Unlike the Congress and the BJP, Trinamool Congress has more ratio of women MPs in parliament. The Biju Janata Dal (BJD) also had taken a lead in reserving tickets for women in the elections.
But the BJP lags far behind in giving adequate participation to women in parliament and assemblies. The women reservation mandates reserving 33 per cent seats in legislatures for women.
There are currently only two women Chief Ministers. West Bengal Chief Minister and her Delhi counterparts Rekha Gupta make for a tiny minority in a male dominated politics.
Join the WhatsApp Channel of The Raisina Hills
Follow on Google News https://news.google.com/publications/CAAqBwgKMNK2vwsw39HWAw?hl=en-IN&gl=IN&ceid=IN%3Aen
About The Author
