Pawar’s NCP Forms LGBT Cell, First Political Party In The Country To Do So

The party had promised the formation of the LGBT cell in its election manifesto. The purpose of this cell is to integrate the community into mainstream society.

Nationalist Congress Party, headed by Sharad Pawar, became the first political party in the country to start an LGBT (lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender) cell on Monday. Member of Parliament Supriya Sule and Maharashtra NCP chief Jayant Patil were present during the announcement of this cell.

The party had promised the formation of the LGBT cell in its election manifesto. The purpose of this cell is to integrate the community into mainstream society.

“The LGBT community faces a number of problems including education and health. As promised in our election manifesto, we will continue our efforts to bring them into the mainstream. This is the first step in fulfilling our promise,” Jayant Patil said.

“Priority will be given to resolving the issues of the LGBT community through this cell. It has been formed for the social, educational, financial empowerment of the LGBT group, we will make this program a success,” he further added.

Supriya Sule, the member of parliament from NCP, said that NCP was the first party to set up a cell for women and today, it has become the first party to set up for the LGBT community.

“We believe in action, so we’ve established this cell. The purpose of this cell is to solve the problems of the gay community,” she said.

Supriya Sule has always been vocal about her support to the community. Even in Lok Sabha, during a debate about the Human Rights Bill, the MP from Baramati insisted that the bill should be made gender-neutral.

“This whole bill has to be gender-neutral. We passed the Section 377 bill here. Then why is the LGBTQ community not being included in this? Human rights aren’t just about terrorists or police,” Supriya Sule said.