Kavitha: Can’t influence my dad-CM to include woman in State Cabinet

Hyderabad: As Chief Minister K Chandrashekar Rao came under attack for not inducting a woman member into the Cabinet, his daughter and Telangana Rashtra Samiti Lok Sabha member K Kavitha said Friday she cannot influence her father to do so.The Chief Minister, who assumed charge on December 13 for the second time after TRS returned to power, has come under criticism for not giving representation to women in the Cabinet, which was expanded on Tuesday with induction of 10 members.

In his first term Cabinet also, none of the women members secured a berth.During an interaction at the Indian School of Business here, Kavitha said no political party, including the TRS, gave "equal space" to women in politics.This issue would get addressed only if it is mandated by Parliament or the Election Commission, she felt.Kavitha said of a total of 85-plus TRS MLAs, only four were women. "I would never shy away and today I again reiterate that no party -- it could be TRS, it could be Congress, it could be BJP, whichever party, it will not give equal space to women unless and until it is mandated by the Election Commission of India or Parliament, she said.

"If you talk about me wielding my power around my father (to induct a woman into the Council of Ministers), I don't think that's how it works in politics", the lone TRS woman Lok Sabha member said. Kavitha said she was a "very junior" member of the party and influencing her father, a leader with 40 years of experience, "is not going to work."

"Trust me on that and especially for women, it has to be mandated....I never shied away from saying this because TRS is no different from any other party", she said. Kavitha also said she does not hope that the Women's reservation bill, which is pending in Parliament, would be passed in the near future.