Shillong, Sept 19: In a landmark development with far-reaching implications for women in Indian politics, the Women’s Reservation Bill was introduced in Lok Sabha on Tuesday.
This Bill seeks to provide 33 per cent quota for women in Lok Sabha and state assemblies.
While talking about the Women’s Reservation Bill, Ampareen Lyngdoh, expressed her optimism regarding the swift adoption and implementation of the bill. She highlighted the challenges women often confront in electoral contests, emphasising the need for reserved seats for women.
She said, “It’s not as if there have never been women candidates who have won. But the very fact that women candidates have a very tough fight against their main content contenders in given situations. So therefore, when you reserve a seat exclusively for women, I think it would be the best way of giving women the recognition they deserve.”
Lyngdoh also dismissed the notion that women are too emotionally unstable for politics, countering with research demonstrating that male candidates frequently benefit from strong female support. “Women are active in all spheres of life, and our country boasts an abundance of talent,” she stressed.
Addressing the emotional stability argument, Lyngdoh said, “I’ve seen men who are very emotional and are thriving in politics. So let’s not just find fault in women, under no circumstances. In fact, the mind that the mattle of a woman can never be matched by a man, we are calm, we are poised. We do not easily display emotions unlike most men. You look at everything every indicator in every part of the world. Atrocities against women is because men are very emotional. That is the basic shortfall or shortcoming of a man’s character but we are not scrutinising anyone here. No male or no gender is under scrutiny here. This is a moment for us, The women of India and leave it at that.”