JOIN USVote unitedly so that you are taken seriously in politics, Priyanka tells women
Nurturing dreams to revive her party's electoral fortunes in Uttar Pradesh through 'women power', Congress general secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra on Sunday asked the women to 'vote unitedly' so that they were ''taken seriously'' in politics.
Speaking during an interaction with the women in Rae bareli, the Lok Sabha constituency of her mother and Congress president Sonia Gandhi, Priyanka said that the women must 'recognise' their strength and seek their rights.
''If you want to bring change then you will have to unite...you must ponder as to why no one takes us seriously in politics,'' the Congress leader said.
''We have suffered enough and we should now decide that we will not suffer any longer....we are half of the population...we must recognise our strength....if we vote unitedly then we will be taken seriously,'' Priyanka added.
In reply to a question, she supported her brother and former Congress president Rahul Gandhi's assertion that there was a difference between being Hindu and a 'hindutva vadi'.
On being asked about increasing the age of marriage of the girls from 18 to 21, the Congress leader said that it was the result of the sustained campaign from her party. ''One or the other announcements for the women have been made every day since we launched our campaign for the women,'' she added.
Priyanka, who is also the in-charge of the state party, has been focussing on the women voters in her speeches at public meetings. She has been appealing to them to vote on the issue of development and not on the basis of caste or religion.
In a bid to garner their support, her party has promised 40 per cent reservation for the women in government jobs if her party comes to power in Uttar Pradesh in the forthcoming assembly polls in the state due early next year. She has also made a slew of promises to the women. Congress has decided to reserve 40 per cent tickets for the women candidates in the forthcoming assembly polls.
Political analysts here view Priyanka's announcements for women as an attempt to make a dent into the vote banks of her rivals.
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