Rosaiah, Naidu hail passage of Women's Bill in Rajya Sabha

HYDERABAD: Chief Minister K. Rosaiah has complimented women in the country for the historic Women's Reservation Bill being passed in Rajya Sabha on Tuesday.
Addressing a hurriedly convened press conference in the Secretariat, Mr. Rosaiah flanked by his colleagues – J. Geetha Reddy, D.K. Arunda, Botcha Satyanarayana and P.Viswaroop – said: “It is victory for Indian women”.
“The credit for the historic Bill getting the acceptance of the Upper House goes to the relentless effort put in by the UPA chairperson Sonia Gandhi and the Prime Minister Manmohan Singh,” he said. He said Ms. Gandhi did not succumb to the pressure tactics by some parties and a determined government ensured that the Bill was passed as a gift for the International Women's Day.
He hoped that the Bill would also be passed in the Lok Sabha without any difficulty. He said the passage of Women's Quota Bill reminded him of the elation Indians felt on achieving Independence.
Greatest event
Geetha Reddy said women became part of history with the Bill getting the nod of Upper House. “Even though, the greatest event came a day late, we do not regret it. If late Rajiv Gandhi gave us reservations in the local bodies, today his wife Sonia Gandhi saw to it that women enjoyed reservation in legislature,” she pointed out. “The historic event will be written in golden letters,” she remarked.
Ms. Aruna said Andhra Pradesh always gave due weightage to women. “Late Y. S. Rajasekhara Reddy inducted as many as six women as Ministers while Mr. Rosaiah has made Geetha Reddy as the Congress Legislature Party leader,” she said.
Hailing the passage of the Women's Reservation Bill in Rajya Sabha, Telugu Desam Party president N. Chandrababu Naidu hoped that political parties would continue the same spirit in ensuring its passage in Lok Sabha too.
Asserting that the TDP was extending its full support to the Bill which was a major step towards empowerment of women, he said the party would, however, work for ensuring representation to OBCs and minorities. Admitting that several concerns were being expressed in terms of reservation of constituencies and other issues, he said parties should work for finding amicable solution to such problems.
Meanwhile, the Communist Party of India (Marxist) too, welcomed the passage of the Bill in the Upper House. Members of the All India Democratic Women's Association celebrated the historic moment by distributing sweets at M.B. Bhavan, the CPI (M)'s State headquarters, on Tuesday evening.
The CPI (M) State committee exhorted the political parties to carry on the same spirit and see that the Bill was passed in Lok Sabha and reservation to women became a reality.