Indias main opposition Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) will reserve a third of its party posts for women members, reports BBC online Tuesday.
Party leader Sushma Swaraj described the move as “historic” and a step towards “empowerment of women”.
The BJP and ruling Congress have backed reservation of a third of seats in the federal parliament and state assemblies for women since 1999. The bill has been put forward several times, but has never been passed as it met with stiff resistance from several smaller parties.
Analysts say that the BJP and Congress parties support for reservation in parliament and state assemblies has also been unconvincing because they did not have enough women in their party positions.
Women MPs make up only 8 per cent of the present lower house of the Indian parliament.
