Speech by
Shri L.K. Advani
Leader of the Opposition (Lok Sabha)

At the concluding session of the
Study Camp organised by the BJP Mahila Morcha

Rambhau Mhalgi Prabodhini, Mumbai : October 8, 2007

I am pleased to be with all my sisters at this concluding session of the Study Camp. I gather from Smt. Kiran Maheshwari , president of the Mahila Morcha, that all the sessions at the camp have been fruitful, and that all the participants have shown great enthusiasm in the deliberations.

I am sure that one of the main reasons for the participants’ enthusiasm is the historic decision that the party’s national executive took at its recently concluded meeting in Bhopal to introduce 33 per cent reservation for women at all levels within the organization. I am proud that ours is the first party ― and so far the only party ― to take this bold decision.

I would like to congratulate Smt. Sushma Swaraj and all the other members of the committee that made this recommendation.

I call upon all other parties to emulate the BJP in this regard.

UPA’s broken promise on women’s reservation bill

With this decision, we have shown that women’s political empowerment is not merely an election slogan for the BJP, as it is for the Congress and the Communist parties.

Today I would like to ask both Prime Minister Dr. Manmohan Singh and Congress president Smt. Sonia Gandhi: “The Common Minimum Programme of the UPA government had solemnly pledged to bring in legislation for 33% reservation for women in Parliament and State legislatures. What happened to this promise? Why haven’t you introduced the bill even once during the past three and a half years that you have been in power?”

The NDA government made sincere efforts to pass the women’s reservation bill. We introduced it in Parliament, not once but twice. But it was opposed mainly by those parties (like the Samajvadi Party) that later either supported the UPA or (like the RJD) which joined the UPA government.

The UPA government’s betrayal of its promise on the women’s reservation bill is only one of the numerous betrayals that have blotted its track-record so far. On price rise, protection of farmers’ interests, employment for the youth ― on each of these and other issues, the UPA government has been an utter failure.

Congress betrayal of aam aurat

The brunt of these betrayals has been borne by the aam aadmi, in whose name the Congress sought the mandate in the 2004 elections. But I would like to point out that, more than the aam aadmi, it is the aam aurat who has suffered the most because of the UPA government’s broken promises.

For example, when the price of onions and potatos goes up ― and I am told that it has shot up to levels that are unaffordable even to the middle classes ― it is the housewife who has to worry the most.

But it is not only the rise in the prices of essential commodities that makes the life of women difficult. It is also the rise in corruption and criminalization that has taken place during the UPA regime.

When criminals facing charges as heinous as murder and kidnapping are given cabinet berths at the Centre, it sends out a signal to the entire system down the line that crime is to be tolerated, and not put down with a heavy hand, by the law enforcement machinery. And who suffers the most when the crime graph grows steeper? It is women.

Therefore, it is necessary for us to mobilise the growing disillusionment and anger of the aam aadmi and aam aurat towards the UPA government. It is necessary for us to present before them the contrasting performances of the NDA and the UPA governments. The Mahila Morcha has a big responsibility in this regard.

My dear sisters, I need not elaborate on the fact that there is an urgency attached to the discharge of this responsibility. Elections are not far away. The UPA government is unable to complete its term because of its own irreconcilable internal contradictions. And the cost of this failure ― namely, imposing the burden of avoidable mid-term polls on the country ― is also going to be borne by the common people.

The people want a change at the Centre. There can be no doubt about it. And there can also be no doubt that they are looking towards the BJP and its allies with great expectations. Therefore, let the people hear this message from us loud and clear: “We are ready to fulfill their expectations. Throw the Congress and the UPA out. Bring the BJP and the NDA back again.”

Sonia Gandhi’s hypocritical stand on Ram Sethu

Friends, as we get ready for the electoral battle, it is necessary for the Mahila Morcha and the rest of the party to educate the people about the deceptions and false claims of the UPA government. As far the Mahila Morcha is concerned, all its workers should realise that the issues involved here are not necessarily women-specific. Nevertheless, you should be in a position to educate the common women on these issues, since they concern national security, national development and national identity and, therefore, will impact women, too.

Take the issue of the Ram Sethu. I have read in the newspapers today that, speaking at a rally in Haryana yesterday, the Congress president has “criticised those raking up the Ram Sethu issue and opposing the construction of a shipping canal project in the sea between India and Sri Lanka.” She has also said: "The Congress has equal respect for all religions. I hope that the issue will be sorted out soon."

Our question to Soniaji is: “Isn’t it your government that raked up this issue by filing an affidavit in the Supreme Court denying the very existence of Lord Ram? Have you punished a single person in your government for this shocking insult to the Hindu sentiments? Have you publicly expressed your displeasure and disagreement with the Tamil Nadu chief minister, Dr. M. Karunanidhi, for his derogatory remarks about Lord Ram? Is this how you demonstrate that the Congress has equal respect for all religions? Would you have responded in this hypocritical manner if similar insult had been heaped upon the sentiments of minority religions?”

I would like the Mahila Morcha to educate the women about the dishonesty and double-standards of the Congress party and its leadership.

Let’s educate the people on the nuclear deal

Take another example, that of the Indo-US nuclear deal. The Congress leadership has already begun to deceive the people by telling them that the deal will help remove power scarcity in the country. They are also saying, and they will say this more loudly in the coming days, that the opponents of the deal are obstructing India’s development because they are opposed to nuclear power.

As far as the BJP is concerned, we should effectively refute these false allegations. We are not against nuclear power. But we shall not let India’s national security to be compromised in the name of energy security.

We should educate the people that the Congress-led government has surrendered before America and agreed not to conduct any more nuclear tests. Indeed, the aim of the agreement, as far as America is concerned, is to ensure that India’s nuclear capability is dismantled and India is brought within the ambit of the Nuclear Non-proliferation Treaty (NPT) through the backdoor.

To put in a language that the common people will understand, this means that INDIA CAN HAVE NO MORE POKHARANS, even if our national security requires us to upgrade our nuclear weaponry.

• Who was responsible for Pokharan II in 1998? Shri Atal Bihari Vajpayee.
Who opposed it then? The Congress party.

• Who was responsible for Pokharan I in 1974? Smt. Indira Gandhi.
Who supported her then? We in the Jana Sangh.

• Who will be responsible for No More Pokharans? Smt. Sonia Gandhi.
Who will oppose her now? All proud and self-respecting Indians who attach supreme importance to self-reliance in national security.

Indian women understand the importance of national security perfectly well. After all, woman symbolizes not only Bhakti but also Shakti in our tradition. We revere Sita, but we also revere the demon-slaying Durga.

Programme for all-round development and empowerment of women

My dear colleagues, as our party prepares itself for the parliamentary polls, we shall place before all the mothers and sisters in the country a forward-looking programme for women’s integral development and empowerment. We have amassed enormous experience in this regard during the six years of NDA rule. For example, the Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan launched by our government is the largest elementary education project in the entire world, with focus on education of the girl child. It is our government that vastly expanded the Anganwadi scheme and raised the remuneration of lakhs of anganwadi sevikas.

We should now seek the support of our womenfolk to implement an even more ambitious vision for their all-round development and welfare. The Mahila Morcha should come forward with specific ideas and suggestions in this regard.

Speaking for myself, I would say that the following should be our commitments:

1) Not a single life to be lost due to female infanticide and sex-determination tests.

2) Not a single girl child to go without education.

3) Not a single widow belonging to a BPL family to go without adequate social security.

4) Not a single case of atrocity against women to go without the culprits getting deterrent punishment.

5) Not a single door of self-development and career advancement to remain closed for Indian women.

While on the last point, let me take this opportunity to offer my fulsome tributes to Sunita Williams, a woman of Indian origin who has done women all over the world proud by her recent space odyssey. She, who hails from Gujarat, visited India recently for the first time after her record-setting space voyage. I was most impressed by all her pronouncements during her visit. Like Kalpana Chawla, she too has now become a source of inspiration for millions of young women in India.

If Kalpana Chawla and Sunita Williams could achieve what they did in a foreign country, why shouldn’t every Indian woman be able to “reach the stars”, so to speak, by fulfilling her dreams in India?

Let me conclude my remarks by saying that we in the BJP have taken the oath to build an India in which the dreams of every daughter and son of Bharatmata can fructify.

Dhanyavaad.