Congress aims to have 50 pc women CM in 10 yrs: Rahul Gandhi

Kochi (Kerala) [India]: Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Friday said that the mission of the grand old party would be to have 50 percent of the women Chief Ministers in 10 years. 

“A good target for the Congress party would be if, in 10 years from today, 50 per cent of our chief ministers are women. Today we don’t have a single chief minister who is a woman. But I know many women in the Congress party have the quality to be very good chief ministers. We have to ensure that at every level, there are more and more women in the organisation and this cannot be done through events, ” Rahul Gandhi said while addressing the ‘Utsaah’ Mahila Congress State Convention in Ernakulam, Kerala. 

Stressing the need for a dynamic shift in the country’s political system by minimizing discrimination, he said, “It has to be done through a process. In the political system, we have different types of discrimination, we have caste discrimination, and language, but women are the most discriminated against.

There are no women in this room who are comfortable walking on the streets at night.” 

Toeing the line of BJP for women empowerment, he added, “From the organisation point of view, it is very important to be aggressive on women empowerment.” 
He further slammed the RSS and BJP on women’s issues and said that the biggest question is “Are the women allowed to share power in the RSS?” 

“The central fight between BJP and Congress is about how women should be treated. In the picture of freedom, you will find Mahatma Gandhi always standing and advocating for women. You will see women taking the front in the freedom struggle. Congress party has many women presidents and has PM women president because we fundamentally believe women should share power in the country.” 

“In its entire history, RSS has not allowed women in its organisation. The question is are the women allowed to share power in the RSS? The RSS is purely a man-oriented organisation,” Rahul Gandhi said. 

He also alleged that the RSS decide what women should do and what they should wear. 

“What women wear, what they do is the decision of her only. In the RSS, they decide what women should do and on what basis women should be respected. For the first time, I have seen a bill passed in parliament that will be implemented a decade later. The only bill which the BJP has passed after 10 years is of the women empowerment (Women reservation bill),” he added.