Senior MP and Congress general secretary K.C. Venugopal set the tone for the debate on the Women’s Reservation Bill in the Rajya Sabha on Thursday by demanding a caste census and separate reservation for Other Backward Classes (OBC) women within the 33% quota. Mr. Venugopal said the BJP government had a poor record of ensuring safety and security for women, citing the Manipur violence.
He said incidents such as Unnao, Kathua, Manipur, Hathras happened during the BJP regime and added that he was distressed when he saw the video of women being paraded naked in Manipur. “Rahul Gandhi went and met the distraught women of Manipur; our Prime Minister did not utter a single word for 100 days. Yet they talk about women empowerment. What kind of women empowerment is this?,” he asked.
