Former Congress President Sonia Gandhi has every reason to feel elated at the introduction of the Nari Shakti Vandan Adhiniyam, or Women’s Reservation Bill in parliament by Narendra Modi government, but the truth is the bill would not have seen the day-light if the Joint general secretary of RSS Manmohan Vaidya would not have expressed his disgust to the apathetic attitude of Prime Minister Narendra Modi towards women’s problems, pulled him up for not reaching out to them and held him responsible for not doing enough for the women.. PM was virtually forced by the RSS to go ahead before the Lok Sabha polls to which the PM complied and now the bill has been passed by both houses of Parliament in its special session.
On the second day of the three-day Pune meet of the RSS Akhil Bharatiya Samanyay Baithak (RSS All Indian Coordination Meeting), Vaidya had virtually directed Modi government to introduce the Women’s Reservation Bill in the special session of Parliament with the pledge to empower the women’s, who constitute fifty per cent of country’s population.
Much to the discomfiture of some senior leaders, Vaidya did not mince words in criticising the functioning of the government and bluntly told; “Women should play a leading role. Sangh inspired organisations will make efforts to increase participation of women in all fields”. What was significant Vaidya blurted these words in the presence of RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat, who nurses a soft stance and attitude towards Modi. His thrust on the Bill primarily aimed at electoral gains, it had wider ramification. Vaidya said family is the smallest unit but “The role of women is most prominent in the family. Therefore, women should play a leading role in every section of the society.”
Exhortation of Vaidya, the key ideologue of RSS was not simply meant to force the Modi government and BJP to undertake the task of empowerment of women but more than that it was aimed at coalescing this, so far untapped force for electoral gains. Otherwise RSS has been traditionally a male dominated organisation which has no place for women. Though the RSS has Mahila Sena, it does not have its representation at the apex body. It is the element of male chauvinism that dictates its functioning.
Obviously, this nature of transformation ought to be looked into seriously. Participation of women in electoral politics is the gift of the socialist and centrist political philosophy. The Congress was the first organisation to encourage women participation in politics. A number of prominent women politicians occupied important political and administrative posts. Pratibha Patil the first woman to become the President was a Congress person.
But Congress abhorred the idea of reaching out to the women from the intermediate or dalit castes. It had its own class compulsions. Since the party was a political forum for the upper castes, feudal lords, these forces did not allow the women from other backward castes to have a say in the party and politics. Even those who could make their presence felt, depended on the support of the rich and upper caste leaders.
It was in the wake of alteration of the political contour and emergence of backward caste leadership under the tutelage of Ram Manohar Lohia in early sixties that regional parties opened their gates for their women. But again the truth was the passage was too narrow. The Mandal politics provided a new thrust to the women politics. A large number of women political activists and academics surfaced as the vanguard.
Before that the left parties, CPI and CPI(M) had made space for the women activists and leaders, but for historical reasons it was also confined to the upper caste middle class. A look at the membership composition of the state assemblies would make it clear that after nineties a significant number of women took charge of the political developments and occupied the position in the decision making process. Incidentally Bihar was the first state to adopt a legislation reserving 50 per cent seats for women in the panchayat elections.
The RSS came to realise the importance of the women power in recent years. The first prominent woman face of BJP was Maharani Gayatri Devi of Jaipur. Undeniably with the BJP catching the imagination of the urban middle class after 2019 victory of Modi, women from this class joined the party. The surge was not due to any ideological commitment, but it was purely fabricated and motivated by the communal politics. They in fact belonged to the empowered section of the women. Their joining BJP was primarily aimed at pushing the politics of Hindutva.
Nevertheless the RSS leadership, though belated, came to realise that this was not enough for boosting the electoral prospect of the BJP. The election result from two states, Bengal and Bihar, was before them to reframe their priorities. In both the states women had voted against BJP. The RSS realised that if they aspire to win the 2024 Lok Sabha election, they must have the women on their side. The compulsion to have women further got aggravated with the defeat of the BJP in Himachal and Karnataka state assembly polls. The women in these two states resolutely voted against the BJP.
This renewed thrust on women primarily owes to this development. BJP not mentioning the OBC women as the beneficiary of the reservation is a part of their well defined design to continue to have the dominance of the upper caste, feudal and rich women. It is an open secret notwithstanding the claim of the RSS and BJP to promote the OBC and Dalit cause, they have been averse to providing them the space and position they deserve. Inclusion of the OBC in the list of the beneficiaries would have deprived the women belonging to the upper caste, feudal families and the urban middle class.
The Bill seeks 33% of the seats in the Lok Sabha and State Legislative Assemblies to be reserved for women. It was first introduced in the lower house of Parliament back in 1996 as the 81st Amendment Bill by the Deve Gowda-led United Front government. However, it failed to get the approval of the House in the coalition era. While it was passed by the Rajya Sabha in 2010 during the UPA rule, the Bill lapsed in the lower house.
Just ahead of the elections to five state assemblies and Lok Sabha elections the BJP governments in states have launched a number of women centric programmes. But they are aware these are too late and too little. They cannot be expected to influence the women voters. One thing is quite remarkable most of the schemes launched by the BJP, especially in Madhya Pradesh, aims at women hailing from the OBC and poor segment. The BJP leadership nurses the view that these small offers would make them rally behind BJP. In Madhya Pradesh BJP has launched the Ladli Behna Yojna and at the national-level, the government slashed LPG cylinder prices by Rs 200 and added 75 lakh beneficiaries to the Ujjwala Yojana.
It would be wrong to describe Modi’s move for reservation to women as a master stroke of a major step forward for gender equality. If Modi has been really sincere he should have followed the provisions in vogue and announced the mechanism of reservation. Modi announcement to reserve one-third of seats in the more powerful lower house and state legislative assemblies for women primarily aims at consolidating the women votes. Women occupy just 82 out of 550, or about 15% of seats in the lower house, with the number dipping further in the upper house, where they occupy 31 out of 250 seats, or 12%. A 2015 Report on the Status of Women in India by the Ministry of Women and Child Development noted that women’s representation in parliament and state assemblies was dismal, especially in senior decision-making positions.
It is the keenness shown by the women to exercise their electoral rights that prompted the RSS to think of their participation and role in politics. Significantly bill has come at a time when women in India have been engaged as voters than ever before. They constitute half of India’s 950 million registered voters. Reservation for women has already been successful at the local level after they were first introduced in 1993. It ensured remarkable political empowerment of women at the grassroots level.
The electoral compulsion has made the RSS realise the importance of women voters.. Recently RSS general secretary Dattatreya Hosabale said “Many programs of the Sangh such as kutumb prabodhan, sewa vibhag, and prachar vibhag cannot be successful without the participation of women. We have also decided in this meeting that there would be a family shakhas organised every three months by our grihasth swayamsewaks (married RSS workers) at village and town levels and organise various cultural programmes with the participation of women,”. According t the RSS would organise as many as 411 conferences across the country. The RSS has so far conducted 73 such conferences that have seen the participation of more than 1.23 lakh women. (IPA Service)
The post RSS Pushed Modi Govt To Pass Women’s Reservation Bill Before 2024 Polls first appeared on Latest India news, analysis and reports on IPA Newspack.
