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Rahul Gandhi Invites Women to 'Chhatron ki Goonj' in Pune

Congress MP Rahul Gandhi on Thursday invited women to participate in the 'Chhatron ki Goonj' programme in Pune on Saturday (August 22), saying the event will provide a platform to discuss their experiences, concerns and challenges. The programme will be held at AISSMS College Ground in Pune and will focus on understanding the issues faced by Indian women.

He said he had earlier asked women in his team to share their thoughts on what it means to be an Indian woman and how society treats them. "I decided that I would ask the ladies in my team about what their thoughts are on being Indian women. And so we did this little exercise where each one of them put out, over 20-30-40 minutes, exactly how they felt being an Indian woman, how society treated them, the good things, the bad things," Congress MP said.

What does it mean to be an Indian woman? I want to know what you feel. Not society's, not family's - what does your own voice say? Your struggles, your obstacles, your perspective, and your dreams. What is your story? Expecting answers from everyone. August 22 | Women's Special… pic.twitter.com/iFOCMJooWn — Rahul Gandhi (@RahulGandhi) August 20, 2026

Congress leader said the exercise helped him understand the experiences of women, and later his team decided to open the conversation to a wider audience.

Key Issues on the Agenda

He said women would be asked about issues including how society treats them, how fear is used against them, the violence they face and where they experience it. He shared some responses received from women, including concerns about control being presented as care, early marriage, patriarchy, moral policing, lack of safety and medical facilities, and restrictions on their choices. "My team decided, why not open this to everybody and make it accessible, and let's ask the women who are going to be coming to this programme, the women who are going to see this programme, what they feel about being an Indian woman. What does society do to them? How is fear weaponised against them? What type of violence do they face? Where do they face this violence? How does it make them feel as citizens of this country? We got some wonderful answers, profound answers..." he said.

'A Much-Needed Conversation'

He invited women to join the conversation in Pune and said such discussions were important to understand and improve the situation of Indian women. "This is the type of discussion we need to have so that we can, together, improve the situation and the conditions Indian women face in their lives. I would invite as many of you to join the conversation in Pune. These are the type of conversations that we need to be having. Thank you. Looking forward to seeing you all there," he further said.

(ANI)