Madhya Pradesh Polls: Congress, BJP Show Little Faith in Women Candidates

Bhopal: The political parties in Madhya Pradesh are in no mood to increase women’s representation in the state assembly from the looks of the candidates list declared by the parties for the upcoming assembly election.

For a 230-member state assembly, Congress has given tickets to only 28 women –constituting 12 per cent of the total number of seats. The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has given tickets to 10.10 per cent (24) women. A Muslim woman candidate from each party will contest the election.

The BJP has pitted senior Congress leader Rasool Ahmed Siddiqui's daughter Fatima Siddiqui from Bhopal North seat against Congress candidate Arif Aqueel. The Congress has fielded Masarrat Shahid from Sironj, who has replaced Ashok Tyagi. She will be fighting against Umakant Sharma, brother of Laxmikant Sharma, an accused in the Vyapam scam.

The Congress has fielded six women candidates belonging to the SC community, and nine women candidates from the ST community. On the other hand, the BJP has given tickets to eight ST women candidates, and to one woman candidate from the SC community.

On average, in the last three assembly elections – in 2003, 2008 and 2013 – both the BJP and Congress have given 10 to 12 per cent tickets to the women candidates. These figures show the dismal picture of the poor representation of the women in the state.

Before BJP stormed to power in 2014, the party had been demanding to pass the Women’s Reservation Bill, which makes provision for 33 per cent reservation for women in Lok Sabha and all the state assemblies. The same demand has been pushed for by the Congress now. In reality, neither party is ready to improve their representation when it comes to fighting elections.

If we analyse the results of the previous elections, winnability of women candidates is higher in comparison to the men. Out of the total men candidates who contested assembly polls in 2008, 6.9 per cent registered victory, but 10.8 per cent of the total women who contested polls emerged victorious. In 2013 MP assembly elections, these figures were 8.3 per cent for the men and 15 per cent for the women.

In 2013, BJP had fielded only 28 women as against its 202 men, while the Congress gave tickets to only 23 women.

In the present state assembly, there are 33 women members including one nominated member. But, barring a few, most of these women leaders come from families with strong political backgrounds.

Before the distribution of tickets, BJP Mahila Morcha President Lata Ailkar had demanded that 25 per cent (56 candidates) of the tickets be allotted to women as  against 12 per cent (28) of the candidates fielded in 2013 assembly elections. However, she refused to comment when the party ended up giving tickets to only 24 women candidates. However, she said “We are constantly pitching the women’s representation issue in the party, and are hopeful that the party will do so in near future. Because in a scenario where all contestants are women, it will be easier for women to contest."

In 2013, BJP had fielded 28 women candidates, of which, 22 were elected to the assembly. Later, two women candidates won bypolls in Nepanagar and Dewas, taking figure of elected women candidates to 24 in the assembly.

Women leaders from the state feel that it is not about any specific political party, but the entire electoral scenario is yet to evolve to make the environment conducive for women. "It is a mindset that women are weak as compared to the men because unfortunately, in our country, you cannot win an election if you are only hardworking, intelligent, well-educated and capable,” said Congress media in-charge Shobha Oza.

She added, "Congress is committed to pass the Women’s Reservation Bill, and party President Rahul Gandhi has said this on several occasions."

Commenting over the issue, Congress MLA, from tribal-dominated Lanji in Balaghat district, Hina Likhiram Kavre said, "What every party sees before giving a ticket is whether the candidate can win or not. But, it is the responsibility of the parties to give adequate exposure to the women. In Congress, we have a lot of scope for work at organisational level. Working in the organisation helps building a strong background. But, more and more women should be given opportunities."

Besides BJP and Congress, the BSP, which will be contesting from 51 seats, has given ticket to the five women candidates.