Women need not be feminist for the sake of it, but should ensure they walk side by side with men: BJP MP

Women need not be feminist for the sake of it but should ensure that they are able to walk side by side with men and not behind them, said Bharatiya Janata Party MP Aparajita Sarangi on Thursday.

In her address on the second day of the three-day event organised by Ananta Centre on the issue of "The Levelling towards an ungendered world", Sarangi said, "Two issues pertaining to women have to be looked into: One is ensuring the dignity of women and the other is economic empowerment. There has to be healthy competition between a man and a woman. We should not be a feminist just for the sake of being feminists. We should ensure that we are able to walk with men side by side. We need not try to walk ahead of men. We should not be behind them. It is important to hold hands and walk together with a common goal."

Stating that the women need to put in "double the effort" than their male counterparts, the BJP MP highlighted the need for a woman to "have a capacity and potential to deliver".

"Women have to put in double the effort than their male counterparts. There is always a question mark on the ability of a woman to deliver. And for that matter, you need to have the capacity and potential to deliver. As far as politics is concerned, it is heartening to see women in Lok Sabha: 78 women MPs. It is not just important to ensure that women can vote, it is very important that they get elected, and once they are elected they are allowed to operate," she said.

The BJP leader, a former Indian Administrative Service officer, stressed on the need for a conducive environment in the family for a woman willing to join politics and said that the political parties also need to be welcoming.

"Every family where the woman decides to get into politics should provide that conducive environment. The entire journey starts with the family. That political party in which she gets in also should have a welcoming approach. It is a difficult arena that women get into. In politics, nobody leaves you space, so you need to have the knowledge. There has to be tremendous resilience," Sarangi said.

Emphasising the need for women's reservation in Indian politics, Atishi Marlena, Aam Aadmi Party MLA, said the step was "essential".

"What is it that we should be doing to increase the representation of women? Yes, there is a lot that has to be done on education, healthcare. But if we really want to increase the representation of women in politics, then reservation for women is the only way. It is essential," she said.

Marlena further said that women face challenges in almost every domain.

"The reality is that we live in a deeply divided and unequal society. Women face challenges almost in every domain. You have to be available for the people as political representatives. So 24*7 life that is expected of an elected representative is definitely far more challenging for women than it is for men. That's the reality that we have to accept," she said.

Sushmita Dev, a Trinamool Congress MP, said that making politics a safer place is what equips women to join politics more and it is the "collective responsibility" of the Election Commission and the government.

"There is no formal training on how to do politics. It is so dynamic. It depends on which region you are from, depends on the party and other things. What equips women to enter mainstream politics is education and healthcare, but also making politics a safer space. It is the collective responsibility of the Election commission and of the parties and government," she said.

"The most obvious and natural path to join politics in India is through a party platform. The path is much smoother if you come through a party. Now what stands in the way...we know gaps are there is the number of women who are actually given representation within the party and during the election. Everybody agrees that women should be in mainstream politics and one effective way to do it is an affirmative action and the reason before that is we have done it when it comes to the Panchayati Raj," Dev said.

"Since 2014, the percentage of women voting has increased immensely. In 2014, 65.5 per cent of women cast their vote and the percentage of men voting was 67.3 per cent, as compared to 2019 when the gap closed even further. 68.3 per cent of men voted and 68 per cent of women," the TMC MP said.

The Ananta Centre is organising the three-day event which will conclude on Friday.

( With inputs from ANI )