Bharatiya Rashtriya Samithi (BRS) leader Kavitha Kalvakuntla expressed her optimism about the future for women after the passage of the Women’s Reservation Bill 2023 in parliament. She believed that this groundbreaking bill would lead to more women joining the Parliament, increasing the current count of 78 to 259. Ms Kavitha made these remarks during a speech in London.
Ms Kavitha, the daughter of Telangana Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao, celebrated this historic moment at the BridgeIndiaOrg Event in Central Hall, Westminster. She referred to the passage of the Nari Shakti Vandhan Abhyan as a monumental step towards gender equality. In her post, she reflected on the journey, acknowledged biases, and emphasized the significance of women in shaping the future. She saw this milestone as a call for global unity in empowering women.
The Women’s Reservation Bill reserves one-third of the seats in Lok Sabha, State legislative assemblies, and the Delhi assembly for women. This provision also applies to seats reserved for SCs (Scheduled Castes) and STs (Scheduled Tribes) in Lok Sabha and State Legislatures. This legislation aims to bring about a transformative shift by promoting greater women’s participation in the legislative process.
K Kavitha, an MLC from Nizamabad district in Telangana, expressed her gratitude for the efforts of former PM Deve Gowda in 1996, Sonia Gandhi during the UPA term in 2010, and Prime Minister Narendra Modi in 2023. She believed that September 19 and 20 would be remembered as important dates for future generations, as the Women’s Reservation Bill was passed in both houses of parliament on these days.
Notably, she pointed out that, according to Indian customs, women perform the first puja or take the first step inside a new house. In this context, she emphasized that the first bill passed in the new Parliament building was the Women’s Reservation Bill, a good omen.