Patna, (Bihar Times): Several women organizations took to streets on Wednesday to protest the Nitish Kumar government’s proposal to bring in legislation barring persons having more than two children from contesting the forthcoming local bodies elections. The state government is implementing this norm for the coming panchyat by-poll.

The demonstration started from Gandhi Maidan and ended up in R-Block. Later under the aegis of Janadhikar Manch a delegation met the chief minister and submitted a memorandum to him. They sought the immediate withdrawal of the proposed. The women groups which took part included Ekta Parishad, Nirdesh, Arpan, Bread, Hunger Project, Abhiyan, Vishali Samaj Kalyan Sansthan etc. The women openly raised slogans against the state government’s move to bring in a legislation in this regard.

It needs to be mentioned that a couple of states, for example, Haryana, had to withdraw this law after a few years when the government started observing that many people started disowning their third child––most of the time when she was a girl––to contest election.

Meanwhile, terming the move as ‘draconian’, ‘anti-poor and anti-woman’ the All-India Democratic Women’s Association (AIDWA) said in New Delhi that the Nitish government’s move will prevent hundreds of thousands of poor women, specially those belonging to the most deprived Dalit, Adivasi and other sections, from becoming people’s representatives.

According to its national president and general secretary Subhashini Ali and Sudha Sundararaman “We hope that better sense will prevail on the JD (U) leadership,” which seemed to be following the lead of its BJP partner in introducing this legislation.