Increase women's representation first in Telangana, Sharmila tells Kavitha

Hyderabad, Sep 6 (IANS) YSR Telangana Party (YSRTP) President Y. S. Sharmila has suggested to Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) leader K. Kavitha to prevail over her father and Telangana Chief Minister K. Chandrasekhar Rao to increase women representation in Telangana Assembly, before waging national-level fight.

Sharmila made the suggestion in a letter written to Kavitha in reply to her letter seeking support of YSRTP for passing Women's Reservation Bill in Parliament.

BRS leader Kavitha had written letters to leaders of all political parties on Monday, urging them to support the Bill aimed at providing 33 per cent reservation to women in the Parliament and state Assemblies.

Sharmila shared the list of BRS women candidates announced by KCR for the upcoming Assembly elections. She pointed out that women candidates account for less than five per cent.

"I fail to understand how you can take this fight to the national platform, without doing justice to women in Telangana. In the three successive Assembly elections or since the formation of Telangana State, your party did not allocate more than 5% tickets to women candidates. This is a glaring irony that the daughter of a chief minister does not question her father over this gross underrepresentation of women in the State Assembly, as well as in his cabinet, but will wage a relentless battle in Delhi," wrote YSRTP leader.

"I think, the first step to prove your sincerity on this issue must be towards ensuring more women representation in the Telangana Assembly," Sharmila added.

She alleged that BRS government adopted double standards over the issue.

"Do you realise that in 2014 your party gave tickets to women in just 5% Assembly seats, while you shamefully plunged to a further low in 2018, when women representation was just 4%! Why did you never raise your voice against this as a woman? Why was only one woman, you, the daughter of the party president, was given a ticket to fight in Lok Sabha elections in 2014? And why this number did not go beyond 2 candidates, again one among the two being you, in 2019?," Sharmila asked 

Sharmila also wanted to know from Kavitha why there was not even a single woman minister in her father’s first-term rule.

She also asked why was the state made to function without fulltime Women Commission, for long.

"Finally, what makes you press this urgency button now, after whiling away for ages? Is it the upcoming Telangana elections? Or, is it because your party feels the Bill may be tabled in this Parliament session? So, you want to take credit for this?," asked Sharmila.

The YSRTP leader offered to support Kavitha in this cause, if the latter takes up the issue and impress upon her father to begin this exercise immediately in the state.