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Telugu Desam Party (TDP) national working president Nara Lokesh on Wednesday, May 27, proposed that the party would allocate 33% of its seats to women in the 2029 general elections, irrespective of whether the women’s reservation bill is implemented at the national level.
Addressing the party’s annual Mahanadu event in Amaravati, Lokesh said whether the constitutional amendment bill passes in Parliament or not, women’s reservations must be implemented. “We need more women legislators, more women leaders and more women policymakers. Women will lead the future of the TDP,” he said.
“Many parties speak about women’s empowerment during elections, but forget women once polls are over. TDP believes in women’s empowerment both in principle and practice,” he added. TNM has learnt that the party's National Presiden Chandrababu Naidu will accept the proposal in his speech on May 28.
Referring to the Constitution Amendment Bill introduced by the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) led Union government, Lokesh accused opposition parties led by the Congress of obstructing measures aimed at empowering women. The TDP is part of the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) led by the BJP.
Lokesh’s announcement comes over a month after the Constitution Amendment Bill failed to pass in the Lok Sabha. Opposition parties had criticised the BJP led Union government for linking the women's reservation quota to a planned expansion of Lok Sabha seats and a redrawing of constituencies, also known as delimitation. 230 MPs voted against the bill.
Notably, the Trinamool Congress (TMC), which is also a part of the Congress led INDIA bloc, has the highest proportion of female elected representatives in both Parliament and the state legislature in West Bengal. Responding to criticism for not supporting the amendment bill, TMC chief Mamata Banerjee said that 37.9% of elected members from TMC in the Lok Sabha were women. “In the Rajya Sabha, we have nominated 46% women members. The question of opposing women's reservation does not arise and never has,” she added.
Despite criticism, the TDP has stood by the BJP and supported the delimitation bill. A day after the bill failed to pass, TDP chief and AP CM Chandrababu Naidu described the development as a betrayal of the nation and termed it a ‘black day in the history of Indian democracy.’
