Female politicians speak at BBC News Hindi’s #NidarLeader event in Delhi

New Delhi: Prominent female politicians spoke at #NidarLeader - BBC News Hindi’s initiative highlighting the paths forged in the Indian politics by various women.

Opening the event in Delhi on Friday 8 February, BBC News Hindi Editor, Mukesh Sharma, said the idea behind #NidarLeader was to understand the personal and political journeys of women in politics, and the kind of challenges they have to face.

Congress MP, Kumari Selja said: ‘My party and Rahul Gandhi are not against the triple talaq bill but against criminality’. She also said that despite political differences she admires and respects the journey of Mayawati and Mamata Banerjee.

All India Mahila Congress General Secretary Apsara Reddy said the world needed to open their hearts and minds towards transgender individuals. She also reiterated: ‘Women should never become a mouthpiece of patriarchy.’

In a separate session, which focused on women politicians working on grassroots levels, Seema Devi, a sarpanch (village head) from the Haryana state of India, said that, despite challenges, she has been working towards bringing small changes to the lives of women in her village. One of her accomplishments is that ‘women are not forced to wear veils anymore’.

AAP leader Soni Sori stated that coming into politics is important if one wants to bring the real change. She indicated her faith in democracy by saying: ‘It was already a victory for me when I fought my first election under the government that had arrested me for allegedly being a Maoist.’

Swati Singh, the BJP MLA and Minister of State (Independent charge), who had travelled to the BBC event from Lucknow, said, ‘the BJP gives maximum tickets to women. But if necessary, we will fight against women as well as government to raise the issues of women.’

Lok Sabha MP from Uttar Pradesh Savitri Bai Phule said, ‘she entered politics to claim the right over her own life. I was debarred from accessing higher education because I was a scheduled caste woman, hence I joined the politics.’

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