“BJP in power in 16 states but no woman Chief Minister": TMC’s Kakoli Ghosh in Lok Sabha

New Delhi: Trinamool Congress leader Kakoli Ghosh Dastidar on Wednesday took a dig at BJP during the discussion on the women’s reservation bill in Lok Sabha and said despite being in power in 16 states on its own or with its allies, the ruling party at the Centre does not have a woman chief minister.  

Kakoli Ghosh Dastidar said the BJP has been in power at the Centre for over nine years and thought of bringing the bill on women’s reservation in the last year of its second term.   

“What took them so long? Why was this bill not brought in 2014? Why just before the elections? What are they trying to prove to the people? Is it like pulling out a rabbit from their hat and placing it before the country?” she asked.

Dastidar referred to party leader Mamata Banerjee and said West Bengal is the only state in the country which has a woman chief minister.

“In spite of BJP being in power in 16 states, there is no woman Chief Minister,” she said.

The BJP-led National Democratic Alliance is in power in 16 states. 

Dastidar referred to the wrestlers' protest in Delhi earlier this year and said it is important to take appropriate action against those “who disrespect women” and to give priority to “changing the mindset”.

"We have more women in the state assembly than any other state. In Lok Sabha, from 2014 we have been having more than 33 per cent reservation within the party without any reservation being implemented through any parliamentary procedure or through the Election Commission," she added.

Union Law Minister Arjun Ram Meghwal moved the Nari Shakti Vandan Adhiniam 2023 for passage in the House earlier in the day.

The bill was introduced in the Lok Sabha on Tuesday during the first sitting of the House in the new Parliament building.  

The Bill will be taken up in Rajya Sabha on September 21, government sources said.