Bhubaneswar: All India Mahila Congress President Sushmita Dev Friday said the National Commission for Women (NCW) is a defunct body and has no ability to ensure safety of women.
Dev made the remark at a presser here when asked to comment on the notice issued by the Commission to AICC President Rahul Gandhi for his comment on Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman.
“Where was the NCW when the rape was committed in Unano and in Varanasi,” she remarked.
She said though 33 per cent reservation was mooted by the Congress, it could not be enacted into a law as the party doesn’t have the majority in the Parliament.
However, Prime Minister Narendra Modi has betrayed the women of the country by not passing it in the Parliament even though it has the majority.
She said, “The Congress party will launch a women centric campaign in the run up to the coming elections to state Assembly and Lok Sabha in Odisha to target the women voters of the state.”
Stating that the incidences of women trafficking, rape and violence against women are rising in Odisha, she said the Mahila Congress will demand the resignation of Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik for his failure to protect the safety of women in the state.
She further said, around 1,000 activists of the state Mahila Congress will gherao the state Assembly during the coming Assembly session in February next.
Dev said she had interacted with the family members of the Pipli gangrape victim.
On the prospect of her party’s prospect in the coming elections in the state, she said her party would definitely win the elections and come to power.
“People will vote for Congress as they want an alternate to the ruling BJD and also wanted to keep the communal BJP out of power,” she added.
People would vote for Congress as the party manifesto would offer a lot of things to youths, farmers, workers and all sections of people, Dev maintained.
She further said a digital campaign would also be launched to reach every home. The Mahila Congress will also target the women self help groups in its campaign.
The Congress leader demanded the state government to provide 33 per cent reservation to women in government jobs and also in the Council of Ministers.
Replying to a question, she said the Congress supported the provision for 33 per cent reservation for women for which Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik had sought the help of all. She described Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik’s move in this regard as an afterthought and done keeping the coming election in view.
“It should have been done four years back”, She remarked.