Congress' national general secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra on Tuesday stated that the party would be allocating 40 per cent of tickets to women for the upcoming assembly elections in Uttar Pradesh. She said the decision is aimed at making women 'a full-fledged partner in power'. She informed that women constitute roughly half the vote bank.
She added that women are being divided into castes and religion and therefore, failing to emerge as a force by being united.
“It is the party’s promise to give 40 per cent tickets to women in the coming elections. Had I had my way, I would have given 50 per cent tickets to them,” Priyanka said suggesting the equation could be taken forward in the 2024 elections. The prospective women candidates would have to apply for their tickets by November 15.
The general secretary stated the fielding women members of various leaders' families in elections is not a bad idea to further women participation. “It is not all that bad if a woman belonging to a political leader's family is given a ticket as they contest and become capable,” she said, citing an example of an Amethi district’s gram Pradhan who fielded his wife and came to her sometime later seeking her help to control his wife who had begun taking her own decisions.
The party had won only seven seats in 403-member Uttar Pradesh Vidhan Sabha in 2017.
The term of the present state government concludes on May 14, 2022.
(With inputs from PTI)
