Sonia regrets inability to pass women's reservation bill

NEW DELHI: In a candid admission, Congress President Sonia Gandhi on Satuday said that her 'one regret' was that the UPA government had still not been able to pass the Women's Reservation Bill in Parliament.
   
"Beyond doubt, we have made a fundamental difference to the nation's politics and economics. I have, however, one regret and I must be honest and share it with you. We have still not been able to fulfill Rajiv Gandhi's vision of extending reservations for women in Parliament," she said addressing the AICC session here.

Gandhi hoped that this could be accomplished soon.
   
Praising the 'sagacious' leadership of Prime Minister Manmohan Singh for implementing many promises in the common minimum programme and the party's own manifesto, she said "as we look back on the past three-and-a-half years of the government, we can justly take satisfaction".

Noting that the government launched a number of special schemes focussed on backward districts, most of which were ruled by non-Congress governments, Gandhi said "this is proof that unlike the BJP-led NDA, our party does not play partisan politics when it comes to the concerns of the poor".

She cited launching of flagship programmes like the National Rural Employment Guarantee Act, Bharat Nirman, Jawaharlal Nehru Urban Renewal Mission, National Rural Health Mission and Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan.

The new Rs 25,000 crore Rashtriya Krishi Vikas Yojana would be the catalyst for the Second Green Revolution, Gandhi said.