Chest-thumping over who championed women’s rights hogs debate

CHENNAI: The Assembly witnessed a political debate over which party and movement had contributed more towards securing voting, representation and other rights for women.

During the discussion on the demands for grants for the Cooperative and Food Safety departments, DMK MLA Poondi K Kalaivanan said the Justice Party had created opportunities for people to enter the Assembly and changed the system under which only taxpayers were allowed to vote.

Social Justice Minister Vanni Arasu intervened and said Dr BR Ambedkar was responsible for establishing the principle of “one vote, one value” for every citizen.

Kalaivanan then said the Dravidian movement had played a major role in securing rights for women. He also pointed to the larger number of women MLAs elected from the DMK to the Assembly.

Minister Keerthana countered that women’s rights had existed only on paper earlier and claimed that Chief Minister C Joseph Vijay had ensured women’s rights in the Legislative Assembly.

Former minister SP Velumani intervened and said it was former Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa who introduced 50 per cent reservation for women in local bodies.

Congress MLA Tharahai Cuthbert said former Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi had reduced the voting age from 21 to 18, thereby expanding voting rights.

The exchange continued with members highlighting the contributions of different political leaders and movements to electoral and women’s rights.

Meanwhile, Kalaivanan urged the government not to completely discontinue the practice of collecting land tax from landholders. He said a system of collecting land revenue had continued since the British era and appealed to the government to retain a nominal levy on land.

The issue came up after Revenue Minister KA Sengottaiyan had recently announced during the demands for grants for the Revenue Department that the government had decided to discontinue the decades-old practice.

Responding to Kalaivanan’s appeal, Sengottaiyan reiterated in the Assembly that the government remained firm on its decision to discontinue the practice.