'Increase Women Representation In Telangana Before Waging National Fight': YSRTP Chief Sharmila To BRS's Kavitha

YSR Telangana Party (YSRTP) President YS Sharmila questioned why Kavitha brought up the subject now, given that Telangana elections were taking place.

YSR Telangana Party (YSRTP) President YS Sharmila proposed Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) leader K Kavitha to insist her father and Telangana Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao to bring about increased women representation in Telangana Assembly before demanding the support for Women's Reservation Bill at a national level. The statement of Sharmila came after Kavitha wrote to over 40 political parties to cut across their political difference and pass the Women's Reservation Bill during the Special Parliament session to be held later this month. 

Listing out the women candidates announced by BRS for upcoming Assembly elections, Sharmila said, the women in the list amount to less than five per cent. 

Sharmila also wrote back to Kavitha in reply to her letter urging the support of YSRTP to pass the Bill. In the letter, Sharmila said that she fails to understand how BRS could take the issue to fight at national platform without doing justice to women in Telangana. 

She said that since the formation of Telangana State BRS allocated not 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.

She added that the first step to prove Kavitha's sincerity over the issue would be to ensure more women's representation in Telangana Assembly elections. 

She also alleged that BRS was double-minded on the issue. 

Further, Sharmila asked, "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?"

Sharmila also asked why there were any single woman Minister in her father's cabinet during the first-term rule. She also questioned why the state was forced to function for such a long time without a full-time Women's Commission.

The YSRTP questioned the reason why Kavitha was taking up the issue now and was that due to the Telangana elections.