BJP Mahila leader arrives with eye on women’s issues

IMPHAL, Sep 4: The National President of BJP Mahila Morcha, Smriti Irani, today arrived in Imphal on a two-day visit along with P. Chandrasekhar Rao, Zonal Organizing Secretary of BJP, NE Region, to get stock of the present issues of women in the state.

Smriti Irani, a popular Indian TV star, has been an active worker of BJP since 2003. She has become an important political figure in the country after she had keen contests with the Union HRD Minister, Kapil Sibal, in the last Lok Sabha election.

Speaking at the Mahila Workers’ Meet held this afternoon at the Office of BJP, Manipur State Unit, Smriti stated that the main objective of her maiden visit to Manipur is to get a first hand account of women’s issues in the state and thereafter strengthen their movement towards empowerment and emancipation.  

She said that the die-hard spirit of the Manipuris who had faced the then mighty British rulers boldly has been suppressed by the spell of Congress government in the state. The development works of the state has been neglected by the present government creating problems of extreme price rise in the state, Smriti noted.

She further stated that the national leaders of BJP like Sushma Swaraj and Bijoya Chakravarty have raised the issues of Manipur in the Parliament but the Congress Supremo Sonia Gandhi remains as a mere spectator of the sufferings of the people.

She also said that the Congress government has failed in every aspect concerning women in the country as the maternity benefit schemes and other projects of women have not been reached out to the general public.

The women of the state are in a state of perpetual fear owing to the misrule of the Congress-CPI allied government which seems to be quite ironical in the national context. The atrocities committed on the women of the state are numerous but there is hardly anyone who can raise the issues very boldly, Smriti said.

She maintained that the BJP Mahila Morcha would work for the welfare and empowerment of Manipuri women whether they are in the state or any other part of the country. The socio-economic condition of women in the state would also be raised through self-help groups and other income generating institutions, she stated.

Smriti also announced that the issues of women in the state would be highlighted in the website of the Mahila Morcha and the women of the state would also be given a unique opportunity to develop their entrepreneurial skills at the exhibition of handloom and handicrafts to be held at Bhopal in March next year.