TMC MP Derek O'Brien.
Credit: PTI File Photo
Amid the renewed debate on the Women's Reservation Bill, Trinamool Congress MP Derek O'Brien Tuesday said his party already has one third women MPs in Parliament, while the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party has only 14 per cent women MPs.
There is a buzz in Lutyens locality about PM Narendra Modi bringing Women's Reservation Bill in Parliament Special Session. BJP has 14 percent women MPs, All India Trinamool Congress already has over 30 percent,' O'Brien said in a statement.
The Trinamool Congress has nine women MPs in Lok Sabha, which is around 40 percent of their total strength of 23 MPs.
In the 2019 Lok Sabha polls, the TMC gave tickets to 17 women out of 42 Lok Sabha seats in West Bengal, giving 40 percent of the seats to women candidates.
Vice President Jagdeep Dhankar, who is also the Chairman of Rajya Sabha, on Monday said the day is not far when women will get due representation in the country's legislatures, further triggering speculations over the bill being brought in the upcoming special session of the Parliament.
On Tuesday, Telangana MLC and Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao's daughter K Kavitha also wrote a letter to presidents of all 47 political parties seeking their support for the passage of this legislation.
The women's reservation bill will provide for 33 percent reservation for women in Lok Sabha and state assemblies for 15 years.
A bill for providing reservation to women in legislature was passed in Rajya Sabha in March 2010, but could not be approved in the Lok Sabha, and therefore lapsed.