BENGALURU: All India Mahila Congress president Alka Lamba, taking a dig at the Narendra Modi-led NDA government, said here on Thursday that as the Centre has not taken the initiative to assign 33 per cent seats to women in assemblies and Lok Sabha, members of the Mahila Congress will lay siege to Parliament during the upcoming session.
Briefing the press on the sidelines of former MLA Sowmya Reddy being sworn in as Karnataka Mahila Congress president, Lamba said since the government has failed to implement the Women’s Reservation Act 2023, Congresswomen will picket Parliament.
She said that the women’s wing is committed to groom women leaders across the country as it is the wish of LoP in the Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi, that an ordinary woman member should rise to the post of LS member. She claimed that since she took charge as All India Mahila Congress national president nine months ago, she has travelled across 18 states and Union Territories, and starting from Mahila Congress foundation day in September, 2.5 lakh women have enrolled online. She hopes to enrol 10 lakh members by the end of 2024.
Telangana stood first with the enrolment of 50,000 women, and Karnataka second with 30,000 women, and a huge rally would be organised in Karnataka soon, Lamba said.
Unveiling the blueprint of programmes for the state’s Mahila Congress members, Lamba said a three-day leadership training programme would be organised. She claimed to have spoken with Chief Minister Siddaramaiah on a project to empower women financially.
There is a plan to set up sanitary pad manufacturing units with government help, and CSR funds from companies, she said. Sanitary pad vending machines would be provided to help needy women, she added.
Lamba claimed that the governments of Karnataka and Telangana have been walking the talk by implementing guarantees for the needy, especially women. Touching on former Hassan MP Prajwal Revanna’s alleged sleaze tapes, Lamba said the Congress had made it a Lok Sabha poll plankm and will continue its fight until the victims get justice. Sowmya Reddy, daughter of Transport Minister Ramalinga Reddy, said she felt proud to take charge as chief of Karnataka Mahila Congress.
Alarming rise in crime in BJP ruled states
BENGALURU: In a scathing indictment of the BJP-led government, All India Mahila Congress president Alka Lamba on Thursday alleged that there is an alarming rise in crime in states ruled by the saffron party. “Crime is growing relentlessly, and criminalisation is becoming increasingly entrenched in all BJP-ruled states,” she stated. “In the states of Gujarat, Maharashtra and UP, criminals have their morale boosted with free rein to commit crimes with impunity, right under the nose of the administration and their masters,” she said, adding that the government’s action against them is just eyewash.