National leaders hail woman power

Dhordo (Gujarat): Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday said the country’s top priority is to improve the lives of women and ensure their full participation in India’s development journey.

The PM made the remarks while virtually addressing a seminar of women saints on the occasion of International Women’s Day at Dhordo in Kutch district. Modi said his government is mulling raising the age for women to marry to 21 years from 18 now, “considering that sons and daughters are equal.”

“In a nation which considers this Earth as mother, the progress of women always gives strength to empowerment of the nation.

Today, the priority of the country is on improving the lives of women. The priority of the country today is to ensure full participation of women in India’s development journey,” he said. The seminar was organised to recognise the role of women saints in transformation of the society and their contribution towards women’s empowerment. Over 500 women saints attended the seminar.

Greeting women on International Women’s Day, former Congress chief Rahul Gandhi on Tuesday said they must get their long-pending due. He stressed that women are capable of transforming society with their wisdom, dedication and strength.

The Congress also greeted women in a series of tweets. “Women are capable of transforming society with their wisdom, dedication and strength. They must get their longpending due. Women’s Day greetings to all,” Rahul Gandhi said on Twitter.

“When womanpower takes charge, falsehood, discrimination and oppression stand no chance. For their grit, for their determination, for their sacrifice to ensure truth and justice prevail always, our salutes to ‘Nari shakti’,” the official Congress handle tweeted Congress general secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra led a march in Lucknow to mark the Day.

Ahead of the Assembly elections, Priyanka Gandhi had come out with the poll slogan ‘ladki hoon, lad sakti hoon’ (I’m a girl and can fight) and her party gave 40 per cent of its tickets in Uttar Pradesh to women candidates. The Tuesday march too was named after this slogan.

Carrying pink balloons and flags with “ladki hoon, lad sakti hoon” written on them, thousands of people participated in the march. Congress leader Jairam Ramesh tweeted, “Today on International Women’s Day let us remind ourselves that thanks to the 73rd Amendment to the Constitution, the brainchild of Rajiv Gandhi, 46 per cent of the approximately 3.2 million elected members of panchayats in India are women. They need Muslim women hold placards at a rally, on International further empowerment no doubt.”