Rahul Gandhi calls for more women Congress leaders; 50% women CMs in 10 yrs
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Kochi: Rahul Gandhi, a leader of the Congress party, stated on Friday that the party should actively support women in its internal structures and aim to have half of its chief ministers be women within the next ten years.
At the inauguration of the Kerala Mahila Congress convention 'Utsaah,' the Wayanad MP stated that several of his party's women leaders have the potential to become chief ministers.
"Earlier, I was discussing what would be a good target for us to try and achieve, and I thought a good target for the Congress party would be that in 10 years from today, 50 per cent of our chief ministers are women... Today, we don't have a single woman chief minister. But I know there are many women in the Congress party who have the qualities to be very good chief ministers," Gandhi said.
The Congress leader also attacked the RSS and said it was "purely a male organisation."
"I think women are superior to men in many ways. They have more patience than men. They have longer-term vision than men. They are more sensitive and compassionate than men. We fundamentally believe that women should be part of the power structure," Gandhi said, alleging that including women is not part of the ideology of the RSS.
He said that in the entire history of the RSS, it has not allowed women into its ranks.
The former Congress president also said that the fundamental fight between the RSS and the Congress is about the role women should play in Indian politics.
He criticised the BJP-led NDA government at the Centre for putting on hold the implementation of the Women's Reservation Bill despite receiving approval from Parliament.
The Bill, aimed at reserving one-third of the seats in the Lok Sabha and state assemblies for women, had obtained parliamentary approval in September.
"I have never seen any Bill passed in Parliament where it will be implemented a decade later. The only Bill that the BJP is implementing after 10 years is the one that has to do with women's power," Gandhi said.
He also referred to certain alleged statements of certain right-wing leaders saying a girl would not have been raped if she had dressed properly.
"This is an insult to every single woman in this country. It is turning the victim into the villain. This is the difference between us and the RSS," he said.
With PTI inputs
