India party reserves women posts

Women have been demanding reservation in the parliament

India's main opposition Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has said it will reserve a third of its party posts for women members.

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 parliamentary seats for women since 1999.

The bill has been put forward several times, but has never been passed through parliament.

The proposal to reserve 33% of seats in the federal parliament and state assemblies has 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.

Now the BJP has announced that it will give a third of party positions to women workers and senior party leaders said the party constitution would be amended to allow for the change.

"This [decision] will go down as a historic one ... and it will be mentioned in the history of women's empowerment in India," BJP leader Sushma Swaraj said.

Women MPs make up only 8% of the present lower house of the Indian parliament.