"If I was a male politician..." This is what 5 female leaders would do if they were men instead

These politicians know exactly what needs to be done for women in India. Photo: RajwantRawat

Politics has always been considered a prerogative for men. And why won't it be? The women's reservation bill has been on the table for years now and always gets pushed aside. In India, women don't have a mere 33% representation in the Parliament.

Even if the Indian Parliament and the State Legislative Assemblies are filled with men, they hardly ever put themselves in our shoes to understand what should actually be done. However, there are some female politicians who know exactly what their male counterparts should be focusing on.

At the India Today Woman Summit 2017, MPs Supriya Sule, Meenakshi Lekhi, Sushmita Dev, K Kavitha and MLA Praniti Shinde talked about what they would do for Indian women if they were a male politician.

Sule, who was recently a part of a protest for the women's reservation bill, said "I would give them 50% reservation in Parliament and in legislative assemblies."

When asked the same question, Dev said that she would make sure female politicians had different portfolios in the cabinet. "I think I will start by reshuffling the portfolios. I would give women Home and Defence ministry, that's what I would do.

Dev had recently started a petition to make sanitary napkins completely tax free. She even intends to hand the petition to Finance Minister Arun Jaitley.

Also read: Sanitary napkins in India could soon become tax free thanks to this female MP's petition

BJP MP Lekhi said that she would have Juliet squads in place. "I would focus on the martial qualities of women and give them free hand to deal with guys," she added.

Lekhi's idea of a Juliet squad is a take on the recent appointment of Anti-Romeo Squad by the newly-elected chief minister of Uttar Pradesh, Yogi Adityanath. This squad apparently is responsible to prevent eve-teasing and ensure safety of girls. This move, however, has received a lot of flak from people as their function blurs the line between crime control and moral policing.

Also read: Apart from saving people from corrupt morals, here are 4 things the Anti-Romeo Squad can do

Telangana Rashtra Samithi's member Kavitha said that she would make education for girls in India completely free. She asserted that it is the most important thing in this day and age.

Shinde said that she would start the change at home, the change that she wants to see in the world. "I would teach my son that he needs to respect women and his mother. I wouldn't belittle women in front of him at all. This needs to be imbibed in kids from the beginning," she said.

The young MLA added that that kids need to be taught at school how to respect their female counterparts, and it needs to be part of our education system.

We don't know about you, but we think these five women definitely understand what our country needs right now. We only hope that the men in power are actually listening.

You can watch the full video here.