Hyderabad, February 22: Telugu Desam Party (TDP) president N Chandrababu Naidu today said that he would ensure that women got 50 per cent of posts in the party committees in future.
Addressing a meeting after the swearing-in ceremony of Telugu Mahila state committee at NTR Bhavan here on Sunday, Naidu said the TDP had 20 lakh active members and half of them should have been women. But the strength of women activists was far below the 10 lakh figure, he said.
Responding to Naidu’s call to women to actively participate in the politics, a woman said they would take an active role if the party gave them an opportunity to contest elections.
Naidu replied that merit was the criterion for giving tickets to contest elections.
If the party went about issuing tickets to cadre without considering their merit, the TDP would never come back to power.
“Women should mingle with people and emerge as leaders. If you have public support, you will get better opportunities,” he advised them.
He accused the Congress government of encouraging liquor sales and failing to curb micro finance institutions, which ruined women.
“The State government failed to provide drinking water to all. But it ensured free flow of liquor,” he quipped.
On the recent surveys which indicated good support for YS Jagan Mohan Reddy, Naidu alleged that they were carried out to project one particular leader.
Telugu Mahila state president Sobha Hymavathi and her team were inducted on Sunday.
–Ag