Congress leader Rahul Gandhi has said the fundamental difference between the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) and the Congress is that the former never allows women to share power while his party fundamentally believes that they should be part of the nation’s power structure.
“In its entire history, the RSS has not allowed women in its ranks. When I said this, the leadership of the RSS said they have women’s organisations. But the question is not whether they have such organisations, the question is whether women are allowed to share power in the RSS,” he said in his inaugural speech at Utsah, a State-level convention organised by the Kerala unit of the Mahila Congress, at the Marine Drive ground in Kochi on Friday.
“I have heard right-wing leaders saying that girls would not have been raped if they had dressed properly. This is an insult to every single woman in the country. It is turning the victim into the villain. This is the difference between us and the RSS,” he said.
On the Women’s Reservation Bill, Mr. Gandhi said he had never seen any other Bill passed in Parliament which will be implemented only after 10 years.
The Congress MP from Wayanad hoped that his party will have at least 50% women Chief Ministers in Congress-ruled States in the next 10 years.
“Today, we do not have a single woman Chief Minister. But I know there are many women having the quality to become good Chief Minister. From an organisational standpoint, it is very important that we aggressively promote women. In fact, the central fight between the Bharatiya Janata Party [BJP] and the Congress is about how women should be treated,” he said. On a lighter note, he said that men were seen dominating the dais at the convention, though women were in majority among the audience.
Jebi Mather, MP and Kerala president of the Mahila Congress, presided over the meet. Congress leaders, including Tariq Anwar, K.C. Venugopal, K. Sudhakaran, V.D. Satheesan and Ramesh Chennithala, spoke. Mahila Congress representatives from Kerala attended.
