New Delhi: Congress General Secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra, on Saturday, expressed her wish of giving 50 percent reservation to the women candidates for ticket distribution, saying 40 percent is "not enough" for that, a formula which her party had announced to follow in upcoming Assembly elections in Uttar Pradesh.
Priyanka Gandhi today kickstarted virtual campaigning in Uttar Pradesh, as Congress had decided not to hold any mega rally in the state till January 15 in view of the rapid surge in Covid-19 cases.
While addressing the virtual campaign of "Ladki hun Lad Sakti hun", Priyanka Gandhi said, "It is true that we women have the power to endure, but women have to recognize their own strength. Women have to fight for their rights."
She explained that the idea for this campaign, 'Ladki hun lad Sakti hun' came from the Unnao rape case. She said that she got inspiration not just from the victim but also from the women present in her family who fought the battle of seeking justice.
"Women are a huge force. If these forces unite then change is certain. I actually was in favour of providing 50% tickets, then I thought let's start with 40%. But 40% is still not enough. It should be ideally 50%," she asserted.
Giving the example of former SP leader Ritu Singh, who later joined Congress, Priyanka Gandhi said, "A woman's sari was pulled in Lakhimpur. She was not at my party, she was in SP. Now she is contesting elections and the entire Congress party is with her. We have to do this so that women come fearlessly into politics."
She also narrated a story of former Prime Minister and her grandmother by calling her a true example of women empowerment, "Indira Gandhi was giving a speech in a meeting when stone-pelting took place. A stone came and hit her on her nose. The important thing is that she did not back down. Stood up again, finished the speech."
During this interaction with the general public, the Congress leader received a question on how Congress is going to tackle the kind of politics BJP does in UP, to which she replied, "Politics of hate and violence is done so that questions are not asked to them and people remain trapped in it. But the solution is to move towards the right development with positivity and love."
She also attacked the UP Government over the poor management in health services, and said, "In terms of health, UP is at the very bottom. The situation is worse in terms of women's health. We will fill all the vacant posts of doctors in the state. Free treatment of up to one lakh will be given to each family. Each health center will have separate doctors for women."
While Congress is mainly focusing on women voters, the men population is feeling sidelined as it is not being able to relate with the campaign or poll promises of the party. However, when asked about the matter in today's conference, the Congress leader replied that it is a time when political parties cannot ignore women and now men should also consider women equal to them and should give them respect.
Priyanka Gandhi addressed "Ladki hun Lad Sakti hun" campaign through the social media platforms like Facebook and YouTube where she interacted with the public by taking questions from them. In her Facebook live, Congress virtual campaign got more than 7,000 viewers. Later in the day, the Election Commission of India announced that Assembly elections in UP will be completed in 7 phases, starting from February 10.
Read: Priyanka Gandhi to kickstart virtual campaign in poll-bound Uttar Pradesh from today
