The Hindu Business Line : After 60 years, wait has not got shorter for women

The 13th Lok Sabha had the largest number of women members - 49. The outgoing House had 45 women MPs. Will things be different this time? Most political analysts say they will be surprised if the number of women crosses 50 in the 15th..

Yogesh Vajpeyi

New Delhi: Lured by the promise of the Women's Reservation Bill introduced in the 14th Lok Sabha, a larger number of women are seeking party ticket this time. But as mainstream parties begin to release their nomination lists, women are realising that electoral politics in India still remains a zealously guarded male preserve.

A hardy politician and a former Haryana minister, Krishna Gahlawat, understands this grim reality, as she knocks at the doors of Congress power-brokers for a ticket to contest from the Sonepat. "I have a strong case. I have been vice-president of the All India Mahila Congress for three years. Congress workers of Sonepat have told AICC observer Rajni Patil, sent to gauge their views, that I will win. But the final choice rests with the party," she says.

Ms Gahlawat realises that she faces heavy odds. Infamous for its gender bias, Haryana has returned only four women to Parliament in the past 30 years. Even as she waits for the party's decision, news from the All India Congress Committee headquarters is not exactly encouraging for women. Inclusive of party chief, Ms Sonia Gandhi, only nine women figure on the list of the 90-odd candidates announced by the party so far.

The situation in the other mainstream parties, which support 33 per cent reservations for women in Central and State legislature, is no better. On the BJP's list of 232 candidates, only 21 are women. Apart from big names such as Sushma Swaraj, Sumitra Mahajan and Yashodhara Raje - all contesting from Madhya Pradesh - most women have been nominated for reserved constituencies or seats where the prospects of victory are bleak, say insiders.

The Rajasthan Women's Commission Chairperson, Ms Tara Bhandari, broke down when she found that the Jalore seat, for which she was a strong contender, had been given to an outsider, Devi Singh. "Though women have demonstrated their political acumen and proved themselves winnable, they are yet to get full justice," Ms Bhandari rues.

Only 2 from Left

The Left Front, which has accused both the BJP and the Congress of lacking political will on the Women's Reservation Bill, has fielded only two women out of 42 candidates from its bastion, West Bengal. The figure is down from five candidates in 2004. Both candidates: Jyotirmoyee Sikdar and Sushmita Bauri are from the Communist Party of India (Marxist), the State Left Front's largest constituent that will be fighting 32 of the 42 seats. "It is striking because the CPI(M) has at least 30,000 woman members in West Bengal and, at the gram panchayat (village council) level, around 40 per cent of the Left Front's representatives are women," concedes Ms Shyamali Gupta, General Secretary, Ganatantrik Mahila Samity, the CPI(M)'s women's wing. But she defends adding, "The number is definitely poor, but since it is a political battle, the party couldn't take chances." But Rekha Goswami, a CPI(M) leader and Minister for Self-Employment in West Bengal, differs. "It is a question of mindset. We should have set an example for other States by offering ticket to more women," she says.

The All India Mahila Congress (AIMC) president and Rajya Sabha member, Ms Prabha Thakur, admits that in most cases party leadership rejects a woman's candidature because of the `winnability' criteria. Of the 45 women fielded by the Congress in 2004, only 12 won. "But things are changing. In the last Assembly elections, we fielded 23 women in Rajasthan and 13 won," she argues. The AIMC, which has received a larger number of applications from women aspiring to enter the Lok Sabha, has recommended more than 100 cases to the party Central Election Committee.

The BJP Mahila Morcha President, Ms Kiran Maheshwari, thinks that the space for women in Indian politics is expanding. "But we still encounter resistance. It will take time before they get their due share."

Women lobbying for their candidature at the Congress headquarters at 24 Akbar Road and the BJP headquarters at 11 Ashoka Road, give the distinct impression that the demand for more representation to women in legislatures cannot be resisted for long.

"I have been working as vice-president of Nashik district for 20 years. I am also general secretary of Maharashta Regional Congress Committee Industrial Division. I am fully qualified to enter the Lok Sabha," says Ms Saroj Ahire, a law graduate. Ms Ahire has applied for a ticket for Shirdi constituency, reserved for the Scheduled Castes after delimitation. She is busy convincing party leaders that the constituency may slip out of the Congress fold if she is denied the ticket. Former corporator of Gandhidham in Gujarat, Ms Punam Veljibhai Jat, 45, has been a primary member of the BJP for the last 15 years. When she learnt the party's sitting MP Pushpadan Gadhvi could not be fielded again because the seat had been reserved for a SC candidate, she pitched her claim. "I am sure I will win because I have worked in the area and the BJP has a strong organisation in Kutch," says the science graduate.

As Ms Thakur points out, "The 33 per cent reservation for women in panchayat and local body elections has thrown up a strong women's leadership during the last decade. These leaders now want to play a bigger role."

Some, such as Punam Jat of Kutch, have been lucky to get party nominations. Others, such as Tara Bhandari of Rajasthan and Delhi Mayor Aarti Mehra, have been outmanoeuvred by male rivals.

The 13th Lok Sabha had the largest number of women members - 49, representing 9.02 per cent of the total strength of 543. Some 284 women candidates had contested for those seats in 1999. The outgoing, 14th, Lok Sabha had 45 women MPs - constituting only 8.29 per cent of the House strength. Some 355 women candidates had contested. Will things be different in the 15th Lok Sabha? Most political analysts don't think so. They will be very surprised, they say, if the number of women crosses 50. The more things change the more they remain the same. At least that seems to be the case for women aspiring to be parliamentarians in India today.

(Women's Feature Service)