New Delhi, Oct 18 (Reporter) Leader of the Opposition in Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi on Friday called for real empowerment of women and not mere token representation. He was addressing the meeting of ‘Shakti Abhiyan’, a movement launched by the Indira Fellowship for women empowerment in the country. Participants from 21 states, who were top performers in their respective fields, and who committed to tackling the deep challenges of patriarchy facing women at the grassroots level, participated in today’s deliberations. Addressing the meeting, Rahul emphasised that the struggle in politics today was not just against the traditional opposition parties, but a broader “ideological battle”. He said, "Our fight in politics today is not just for power, but also for representation and they are two sides of the same coin, not as different as some people think." Rahul lauded the bold efforts of the Shakti Abhiyan, which is providing space for women to lead, organize and reshape political discourse in their communities. Shakti Abhiyan, run by Indira Fellowship, is a national initiative aimed at ensuring equal representation of women in Indian politics. The demands of the Shakti Abhiyan include, “Equal Political Representation”, to ensure 50% representation of women in elected offices at all levels. The participants in the session shared their on-the-ground experiences and discussed the challenges of social resistance, lack of resources and patriarchy in the political framework. The national executive meeting of Shakti Abhiyan will continue for the next two days, in which future action strategies will be discussed to expand the movement and strengthen the political participation of women in India...////...