Delhi, 7th June 2010: Sixty members of campaign Reservation Express met Congress President Sonia Gandhi at her 10, Janpath residence this morning. In the brief meeting, Mrs. Gandhi endorsed their demand of the passage of 33 per cent Women’s Reservation Bill in its current form in the upcoming monsoon session. She assured positive response to the caravan delegation comprising women from 12 different states who had traveled over 20, 000 kilometers as part of the national campaign. The fortnight-long campaign has gathered support for the Bill from all corners of the country as well as raised awareness about its nuances.

Mrs. Gandhi individually met Bhanwari Devi from Rajasthan, who has been fighting a 15-year long battle against gang-rape; Sultana Sheikh from Gujarat, a rape survivor of the Gujarat carnage; and Musarrat Jahan from Mumbai, sister of Ishrat Jahan, who was killed in a fake encounter in 2004 in Gujarat. These three women were part of the campaign.

While consenting with the demand for the passage of the Bill, Mrs. Gandhi said: ‘It is a long battle ahead'.

About 15,000 signed post cards addressed to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh were handed over to her since the PM is currently in Kashmir.