Rahul Gandhi pushes for more women leaders in Congress; 50% women chief ministers within 10 years
Kochi (PTI): Congress leader Rahul Gandhi said on Friday that the party should actively promote women within its organisational structure and set a target to have 50 per cent of women as chief ministers within the next 10 years.
Inaugurating 'Utsaah,' a Kerala Mahila Congress convention here, the Wayanad MP said there are numerous women leaders in his party who possess the qualities necessary to become chief ministers.
"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.
"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," Gandhi said.
The Congress leader also attacked the RSS and said the saffron party was "purely a male organisation".
"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," Gandhi said, alleging that including women is not part of the ideology of the RSS.
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.
He criticised the BJP-led NDA government at the Centre for putting on hold the implementation of the Women's Reservation Bill despite receiving approval from Parliament.
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.
"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," Gandhi said.
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.
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UP CM Adityanath's plane makes emergency landing in Agra due to technical snag
Agra/Lucknow, Mar 26 (PTI): An aircraft carrying Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath made an emergency landing at the Agra airport shortly after take off due to a technical snag, officials said.
The chief minister resumed his journey to Lucknow after over two hours, they said.
Adityanath was in Agra for a public event to mark the eighth anniversary of the BJP government in the state.
"After the programme, the chief minister was scheduled to leave from the Kheria Airport in Agra around 3.30 pm. The aircraft took off but returned shortly apparently due to a snag, which was then inspected by officials," a police official told PTI.
"The chief minister finally resumed his onward journey around 5.30 pm from Kheria," the official added.
Senior Agra district administration and police officials remained at the airport while the chief minister waited there. BJP supporters and local politicians were also present outside the airport.
Earlier in the day, Adityanath inaugurated and laid the foundation stone of 128 projects worth Rs 635.22 crore at 'Vikas Utsav' held in Agra to mark the completion of eight years of his government.
"Residents of Agra now have access to metro rail services, officially making Agra a metro city. The construction of the civil terminal at the airport is in its final stages," he said, adding that previous governments failed to provide these facilities.
