BJP women will get equal opportunity in 2014 polls: Smriti Irani

Panaji: Women will get "equal opportunity" to contest the 2014 Lok Sabha elections, BJP vice president and TV acterss Smriti Irani said on Wednesday.

"Women will get equal opportunity to fight in the Lok Sabha," Irani said, adding that she has been assured this by the party leadership. When asked if "equal opportunity" meant that 50 percent of the party tickets would be allotted to women, Irani said, "I cannot speak on behalf of the parliamentary board", which takes the final call on ticket allotment. Pressed further on the question, Irani said she would need to "gaze into a crystal ball" for an answer. Irani was in Goa for the first time after being appointed the minder for Goa affairs ahead of the forthcoming Lok Sabha polls. When asked why the BJP had failed to provide even a single ticket to a woman candidate for the 2012 state Assembly polls, Irani said the party had reserved decision-making posts for women. Irani, who was also overseeing the arrangements for the party`s three-day national executive committee meeting due to be held in Goa in June, said that women constituted 50 percent of the electorate and had contributed significantly to Indian polity over the years. IANS