Want 50 per cent women CMs in Congress ruled states: Rahul Gandhi
Kota, Oct 25 : 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 organization .
"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.
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Ahmedabad plane crash: Six months on, college hostel lies in ruins, sans bustle of students
Ahmedabad (PTI): Six months after the AI-171 plane crash, the B J Medical College hostel complex in Ahmedabad stands as a haunting reminder, with its charred walls and burnt trees replacing the once lively chatter of students with an eerie stillness.
Scattered across the crash site are grim remnants of daily life - burnt cars and motorcycles, twisted beds and furniture, charred books, clothes and personal belongings.
The Atulyam-4 hostel building and the adjoining canteen complex stand abandoned, with entry strictly prohibited.
For residents near the site, memories of the incident still linger, casting a lasting shadow on their lives, with some of them saying they are still afraid to look up at the sky when an aircraft passes overhead.
On June 12, Air India flight AI-171, a Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner bound for London, crashed moments after take-off from the Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel International Airport, killing 260 persons.
The aircraft slammed into the BJ Medical College hostel complex in Meghaninagar, turning a lively student neighbourhood into a landscape of ruin and grief.
"The area now lies very silent, only a few birds chirp here," Sanjaybhai, a security guard deployed at the premises by authorities to prevent trespassing, told PTI.
Mahendrasingh Jadeja, a general store owner whose shop is just 50 metres from the point where the aircraft struck, described it as an unimaginable calamity. "In all my years, I have never seen anything like this."
Pointing to a tree behind his shop, the 60-year-old said the aircraft first struck there before crashing into the hostel building.
"It was a scorching summer afternoon. Not many people were outside. When I heard a loud crashing sound, I ran out of my shop. We were all terrified," he recalled.
"Even today, we instinctively look up whenever a plane passes overhead," he added.
Another local, Manubhai Rajput, who lives barely 200 metres from the site, said he witnessed the horror unfold on June 12.
"The plane was flying unusually low. Before I could understand what was happening, there was thick black smoke and a deafening crash," he said.
For over three decades, Rajput and his neighbours lived close to the airport without giving much thought to the aircraft overhead.
"We never looked up at the sky. But that day is etched in my mind. The plane hit a tree first, and then there was a loud sound," he said.
Rajput recalled how hundreds of locals rushed to the site even before police, fire services or the Army arrived.
Tinaben, another resident of Meghaninagar, said she never imagined something like this could happen in Ahmedabad.
"Despite being close to the airport, this area always felt safe," she said.
As an aircraft roared overhead during the conversation, Tinaben paused, looked up nervously and said, "It's still scary."
A senior official of Civil Hospital Ahmedabad, speaking on condition of anonymity, said the state government has yet to decide what to do with the damaged site.
Currently, investigations are going on and the site is strictly prohibited for people, he added.
