In Next 5 To 7 Years Half Of Our Chief Ministers Should Be Women, Says Rahul Gandhi

Pushing for the participation of more women across various levels in the Congress, Rahul Gandhi on Thursday said he would like half his party's chief ministers in the country to be women in the next five to seven years.

The BJP and the RSS think women should not go out of their houses while the Congress promotes women, the Congress president said at the state level convention of Mahila Congress here.

"This is the difference between BJP and Congress. BJP and RSS say that women should not be progressive and should not go out of the houses. You will not find a single woman in RSS meetings. They (BJP) have an organisation of women but that organisation does not take decisions and the decision is taken there by the men,” Gandhi said.

He said that chief minister in the BJP ruled Rajasthan is a woman but her thoughts are not for women.

Gandhi said his aim is to give women a suitable representation in the party's organisation .

"I have taken the decision that I will promote the participation of women in the organisation and at the level of zila parishad, pradhan and then at the level of MLA and MP. After that I want that in next 5 to 7 years, half of our chief ministers in the country should be women,” he said.

As the Congress chief, Gandhi said, his role may be that of a "judge" in the party but he would be willing to be the "lawyer" of women in order to promote them and to enhancement their presence in the organisation.

He said that winnability should indeed be a criteria in deciding for a candidate in election but women too can win.

"I want that when I read out the list of leaders at such programmes, at least 30-40 per cent should be of women in every state,” he said, while telling the members of the mahila Congress that he was not giving any gift but was giving them their right.

Woman Congress national president Sushmita Dev, state chief of party's women wing Rehana Riyaj, PCC president Sachin Pilot, former chief minister Ashok Gehlot, and other leaders of the party were present on the occasion.

Manvendra Singh, the senior ex BJP leader and a prominent Rajput face in the state who recently joined Congress in Jaisalmer was also present on the stage.

In India, the biggest difference to women's lives—the policy of one-third reservation of seats for women at village and municipal councils, which has brought more than 1.3 million women into local public spheres—came from legislation okayed in principle by the Rajiv Gandhi government.

The Economic Survey on Janury called for more representation of women in decision making process in the country, saying their political participation has been low despite them accounting for 49 per cent of the population.

In India, between 2010 and 2017 women's share rose 1 percentage point in its Lower House (Lok Sabha), as per the survey. 

(With inputs from PTI)