BRS leader Kavitha leads hunger strike demanding passage of Women's Reservation Bill in Parliament
The Hindu
CPI-M leader Sitaram Yechury, who inaugurated the six-hour strike programme at Jantar Mantar in New Delhi, also demanded that the Modi government should bring this Bill in this session of the Parliament.
A day ahead of her appearance before the Enforcement Directorate (ED) in the excise scam case, Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) leader K. Kavitha on March 10 observed a hunger strike seeking passage of the long-pending Women's Reservation Bill in the second part of the Budget session of Parliament starting from March 13.
CPI-M leader Sitaram Yechury, who inaugurated the six-hour strike programme at Jantar Mantar in New Delhi, also demanded that the Modi government should bring this Bill in this session of the Parliament.
Among leaders present at the strike were Shyam Rajak (RJD), Seema Shukla (SP), Telangana Education Minister Sabitha Indra Reddy as well as State Women and Child Welfare Minister Satyavathi Rathod and others. Women leaders from Andhra Pradesh were also present.
Sanjay Singh and Chitra Sarwara (AAP), Naresh Gujral (Akali Dal), Anjum Javed Mirza (PDP), Shami Firdous (NC), Sushmita Dev (TMC), KC Tyagi (JDU), Seema Malik (NCP), Narayana K (CPI), Shyam Rajak (RLD), Priyanka Chaturvedi (Shiva Sena) and ex-Congress leader Kapil Sibal have confirmed their participation in strike that will end at 4 p.m.
"We have come here to assure that our party will extend support to Ms. Kavitha in this protest till the Bill is passed in Parliament. It is important to bring this Bill to give equal opportunity to women in politics," Mr. Yechury said in his inaugural address.
When he entered Parliament for the first time in 2014, Prime Minister Narendra Modi had said his government's priority would be the Women's Reservation Bill. It has been nine years now, this Bill has not been introduced again in Parliament, he said.