Bhubaneswar (Odisha) [India], May 1 : Olympian sprinter Dutee Chand has called for stronger support and greater representation of women in politics, saying that they continue to remain underrepresented in legislatures despite progress in other fields.
Speaking with ANI, Chand referred to a special session of the Odisha Assembly focused on women's reservation and stressed the need for increased participation of women in political decision-making.
"A special session of the Odisha Assembly was held on women's reservation... Women should get support in every field. Women are progressing in every field today, but in politics, women do not get the support they should get," she said.
She further highlighted the low representation of women in elected bodies, including Parliament and state assemblies.
"The number of women in the Lok Sabha and the Assembly is less," she added.
The Odisha Legislative Assembly held a one-day special session on April 30 to discuss the participation of women in Indian democracy.
This comes after the Opposition parties in the Lok Sabha voted against the Constitution Amendment Bill on April 17.
The Lok Sabha took up the Constitution (One Hundred and Thirty-first Amendment) Bill, the Delimitation Bill, and the Union Territories Laws (Amendment) Bill together for passing. In the division that took place on the Constitution Amendment Bill following the debate on the three bills, 298 members voted in favour and 230 against.
After the fall of the Constitutional Amendment Bill, the NDA slammed the Opposition parties, accusing them of hindering one-third reservation for women legislators. In Odisha, the BJP alleged a BJD-Congress alliance to stop the proposed legislation. The BJP has held Jan Akrosh Padyatras in several states, slamming the Opposition parties.