The decision of Bharat Rashtra Samithi president and Telangana chief minister K Chandrasekhar Rao to give party tickets to only seven women candidates for the ensuing assembly elections has certainly pushed his daughter Kalvakuntla Kavitha on the backfoot.
Every political party in the state criticised Kavitha, who staged a big demonstration in New Delhi a few months ago seeking reservation to women in the state assemblies and parliament, for not putting similar pressure on her father KCR.
On Wednesday, Kavitha put up a poor defence for lesser number of party tickets given to women by her father.
“I thank every leader who criticised me on the BRS tickets to women candidates. But none of these leaders ever reacted on the women’s reservation bill. The issue is not about party tickets, but reservations for women,” she said.
She said there was an urgent need for women’s reservation in legislative bodies.
“This is not a personal agenda but a pressing demand of women across the nation. Instead of fighting for the women’s quota, these leaders are talking about party tickets,” Kavitha criticised.
She reminded that the number of women representatives in local bodies of Telangana increased to 14 lakhs only after the BRS government brought a legislation in the assembly.
“Should women remain as Sarpanchs, MPTCs, and ZPTCs?” Kavitha questioned, challenging the status quo.
But what Kavitha has forgotten is that charity should begin at home.
Instead of asking the other political parties on the women’s quota bill, her party should have first implemented it by giving 33 percent of the tickets to women in the assembly, so that they would get required quota in the House.
It would have set an example for other parties and Kavitha would have moral right to demand them to implement the reservation to women, irrespective of the legislation in Parliament.
“Does Kavitha want to say that only if there is a quota for women, the BRS will give 33 percent tickets to women? So, KCR wants to treat women as a reserved category not deserving category,” an analyst said.