Cong hits streets over delay in women’s quota rollout

Bhopal: The Congress state unit on Sunday took to the streets, accusing the governing BJP of dragging its feet on women's reservation even after Parliament cleared a Bill in 2023.Senior leaders, led by party state unit chief Jitu Patwari and LoP Umang Singhar, joined a foot march through the city to protest what they called the BJP's "anti-women policies" and its failure to act on the 2023 Women's Reservation Bill. The march began at Atal Path, wound its way through Tin Shed and New Market, and ended at Roshanpura Square.Addressing supporters, Patwari said the BJP should stop misleading people of the country and immediately take steps to implement the 2023 Women's Reservation Bill providing for 1/3rd seats of the existing 543 Lok Sabha seats for women."A resolution to this effect should be unanimously adopted in the state assembly during the special session so that people of the country get a clear message on the issue," he said.Singhar said the BJP and the RSS were "unnecessarily politicising" the issue of women's reservation and at the same time not giving them reservation in the Lok Sabha.He said that the Congress would table a resolution to give immediate reservation to women in Parliament and state legislative bodies on the existing seats therein and press for its unanimous adoption in the House and forwarding the same to the state government for further action.The state Mahila Congress chief Rina Baurasi emphasised that there should not be any delay in providing reservation to women in Parliament and state legislative bodies and the Bill passed by Parliament in 2023 should be implemented for the purpose.