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Kochi, Kerala: Congress leader Rahul Gandhi Friday said the party aimed to have 50 per cent women chief ministers in the next 10 years. Noting that there are many women leaders in the Congress with the temperament and qualities to become chief ministers, Gandhi said the party should actively promote women within its organisational structure and set a target to have 50 percent of women as heads of state within the next decade.
“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,” Rahul Gandhi said while inaugurating the ‘Utsah’ convention of the Kerala Mahila Congress in Kochi.
“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,” the Wayanad MP said.
Attacking the RSS for being a “purely male organisation”, the Gandhi scion alleged that the right-wing body’s ideology does not allow the inclusion of women.
He also said that women are superior to men as they are have more patience than their male counterparts.
“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,” said Gandhi.
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.
Gandhi also attacked BJP-led Central government for putting on hold the implementation of the Women’s Reservation Bill despite receiving approval from Parliament. “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,” he said.
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.
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)
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