Several leaders turned up for the hunger strike, intended to burst the BJP's bubble that it was at the forefront for the welfare of women.
BRS MLC K Kavitha and other politicians at a hunger strike at Jantar Mantar in New Delhi on Friday, 10 March, 2023. (RaoKavitha/Twitter)
A day ahead of questioning by the Enforcement Directorate (ED), BRS MLC and Telangana Chief Minister K Chandrashekar Rao’s daughter Kavitha Kalvakuntla on Friday, 10 March, went on a day-long hunger strike demanding that the BJP dispensation at the Centre bring the Women’s Reservations Bill in Parliament when the Budget session resumes on Monday.
An eclectic crowd of men and women leaders turned up for the hunger strike, which was intended to expose the “hypocrisy” of the BJP, which claims that it was always at the forefront in the welfare of women.
Kavitha’s hunger strike appeared to have run into rough weather on Thursday when the Delhi Police, after giving her permission to conduct the protest at Jantar Mantar, first cancelled it but then allowed it, probably realising that allowing the leaders to vent at the BJP was a better proposition than restraining them, which might get the Opposition more sympathy from the people.
Even as leaders of variegated colours were lashing out at the Centre for its inaction in passing the Bill in Parliament, KCR was sensitising BRS leaders at a wide-ranging party meeting in Hyderabad to take the BJP on in the next Assembly elections, which he said would be organised as scheduled later this year.
Thus, in essence, he ruled out any possibility of going in for early polls.
Elusive Opposition unity was visible after a long time, though no one knows now whether it is an illusion or real.
CPI(M) general secretary Sitaram Yechury, who inaugurated the hunger strike camp on Friday morning, demanded that Prime Minister Narendra Modi bring the Bill, as he had promised.
Yechury said his party extended full support to the efforts of Kavitha’s Bharat Jagruthi to force the BJP to introduce the Bill.
He wondered why the reservation of seats should not be made in the legislature for women when the same facility was available in panchayats.
If the country had to progress, it was imperative that women became partners in social, economic, and political decision-making, he said.
27 years later, Women’s Reservation Bill still continues to be absent from the Parliament.
Together, we will ensure that 33% Women’s Reservation Bill is a reality.
I thank @cpimspeak & @SitaramYechury Ji for joining this movement today. https://t.co/5W4J35SWnE pic.twitter.com/l0KVM9LMo5
— Kavitha Kalvakuntla (@RaoKavitha) March 10, 2023
In fact, the crowd had representation from parties that were originally against the Women’s Reservation Bill, such as the Samajwadi Party (SP).
Its representative Pooja Shukla said the SP wanted reservations for the SCs, STs, and BCs within the 33 percent reservations for women for which the protest was organised.
Though Kavitha went all guns blazing at the BJP on Thursday for using its investigation agencies to force the Opposition leaders into subjugation, she and other leaders at the Deeksha Camp stuck to the script on Friday, emphasising the need for reservations for women in legislative bodies.
Though Kavitha’s Bharat Jagruthi invited the Congress to send its representatives, there was none from the party in attendance.
In fact, Kavitha had called the Congress arrogant on Thursday, after hailing Sonia Gandhi, in another context, for being instrumental in introducing the Bill in Rajya in 2008 Sabha when the United Progressive Alliance (UPA) coalition was in power.
Those who took part in the hunger strike included: Sanjay Singh of the Aam Aadmi Party, Naresh Gujral of the Akali Dal, Anjum Javed Mirza of Jammu and Kashmir’s Peoples Democratic Party, Shami Firdous of the National Conference, Susmita Dev of the Trinamool Congress, KC Tyagi of the JD(U), Sima Malik of the Nationalist Congress Party, K Narayan of the CPI, Shyam Razak of the Rashtriya Lok Dal, and senior lawyers Kapil Sibal and Prashanth Bushan.
Kavitha, speaking at the hunger strike camp, called to account the BJP dispensation at the Centre for keeping the Women’s Reservation Bill in cold storage. She said that her party would join hands with those who believed that it should be come law.
The questioning by ED on Saturday might have weighed heavily on her mind, but she did not show it. She sat through the dharna camp smiling at interesting observations of the speakers, and appeared very convivial.
She said: “There is no question of turning back. The struggle will continue.”
It was unfortunate that the Bill, which was first introduced in Parliament in 1996, when HD Deve Gowda was the prime minister, was still at the same stage.
“I do not understand why the BJP does not bring the Bill and pass it, as it enjoys an absolute majority in Parliament. If the BJP introduces the Bill, the BRS will mobilise support from the Opposition parties and ensure its passage by utilising the historic opportunity that is presenting itself to the saffron party,” she said.
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