First write letter to UPA partners who blocked #Womensreservation bill when in power; BJP's dig at Sonia's letter to PM Modi

New Delhi, September 22: BJP has responded with a dig to Sonia Gandhi's letter to the PM Modi, urging him to take advantage of his government's majority in parliament to give more power to women. Notably, Congress President Sonia Gandhi had written to Prime Minister Modi urging him to get the women's reservation bill passed through Lok Sabha.

"Rather than writing to the Prime Minister, Sonia Gandhi ought to have written or spoken to her alliance partners like Lalu Prasad and Mulayam Singh Yadav to find out why they blocked the Women's Reservation Bill when the UPA was in power," BJP spokesperson said.

Sonia Gandhi said in the letter that the legislation will be 'significant' step forward in the empowerment of women. Rajya Sabha had passed the bill on March 2010 and since then it is languishing in the lower house for one reason or another. She recalled that the Congress under Rajiv Gandhi had first proposed the bill in 1989.

The Congress made a renewed bid to get the bill cleared in 2013 but backed out after the RJD and SP threatened to withdraw support. It lapsed after the end of the tenure of the last Lok Sabha.

Their central argument against the 33 percent quota is that the reserved seats would be cornered by women from upper castes since there weren't many from the weaker sections in politics. To safeguard their interest, they demanded sub-quotas for women from weaker groups such as backward classes and minorities, a formula that major parties had rejected.