Rahul Gandhi seeks women Pradhans' suggestions for Congress manifesto

NEW DELHI: Rahul Gandhi, who has been pitching for increasing women's participation in decision- making, today held consultations with women Pradhans gathered here from across the country and sought their inputs for Congress manifesto for the upcoming general elections.

The interaction, in which around 150-200 people participated, is part of an ongoing process by Congress this time to seek feedback from various stakeholders.

Gandhi has so far held consultations with representatives of minorities, Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes, youths, women and elected representatives of Panchayats.

Today's consultations were an extension of the earlier discussions held at Wardha in Nagpur with elected Panchayat representatives, party sources said.

At the AICC meeting on January 17, Gandhi had said that Congress manifesto for the coming elections will be broad based taking into consideration the views of people of villages, Dalits, tribals, women, youth and NGOs in contrast to what was being done till now with manifesto being decided by three-four persons sitting in a closed room.

The party has already launched a website to seek direct online suggestions from people on policies, which could find a place in the manifesto.

Gandhi had pushed early passage of Women's Reservation Bill, which seeks to reserve 33 per cent of all seats in the Lok Sabha and in all state legislative assemblies for women, last week.