A few weeks ago, political parties hailed and celebrated the passage of the women reservation’s bill in Parliament. Soon after, five states went for polls and the promise of creating more space for women in Indian politics seemed to remain a lip service.
Across the five states – Rajasthan, Mizoram, Madhya Pradesh, Telangana and Chhattisgarh – more than 8,000 candidates were in the fray for about 680 seats. The overall women representation was as low as 10%, despite parties hailing the idea of 33% reservation for women.
It is important to note that while the reservation bill is yet to become a ground reality, the need for more women representation does not seem to be the priority for the political parties.
Not just overall, none of the big parties attempted to field even close to 33% women in the elections across these states, as per the data analysed from various reports from the Association for Democratic Reforms (ADR).
STATE-WISE WOMEN IN FRAY
With 230 seats, Madhya Pradesh was the largest among these states. As per the ADR, only 253 (10%) women contested in Madhya Pradesh. While it was an improvement from 2018, when 235 candidates were women, there is still a long road ahead for women.
In terms of candidates, the Congress fielded most women in Madhya Pradesh, followed by the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). Both the parties fought on all 230 seats, while the Congress named 30 women, the BJP fielded 27. The Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP), which contested on 181 seats, named 21 women. Further, there were 87 independent women in the fray.
Also, both Samajwadi Party (SP) and Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) fielded 11 women each, out of 71 and 66 candidates, respectively.
Get Your Latest Election Updates Here! MP Election Results 2023 | Rajasthan Election Results 2023 | Chhattisgarh Election Results 2023 | Telangana Election Results 2023
Stay tuned for the most up-to-date results and insights as votes are counted across 5 states, Madhya Pradesh Election Results, Rajasthan Election Results, Chhattisgarh Election Results, Mizoram Election Results, and Telangana Election Results!
Rajasthan was the next largest state with 200 seats. The state had 183 women in the fight, one more from 2018. Here again, the Congress named the highest number of women among any party.
While the Congress fielded 28 women (of the 199 candidates), the BSP named 22 (out of 185) and the BJP stood third with 20 women (out of 200). The AAP has named only five women out of 86 candidates. In addition, there were 66 independent women candidates.
With 119 seats, Telangana was the third largest state in terms of assembly strength. At least 2,290 candidates are fighting in the state and only 222 (10%) are women. It is better than 2018 when 136 candidates were women. Among the parties, the BJP has fielded the highest number of women. Of the party’s 111 candidates, 13 were women. The Congress was second with 12 women out of 118 candidates. The BSP named 107 candidates with nine women. Telangana’s ruling Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) has fielded 119 candidates and only eight of these were women.
In Chhattisgarh, where 90 seats went for polls, just 155 (13%) women were in the fray of the 1,178 candidates. It was better than 2018 when 125 women had contested. With 18 women, the Congress named the highest women, followed by the BJP with 15 women. Both the parties contested on all 90 seats. The BSP named seven women out of 59 candidates, while the AAP named five out of 54 candidates.
In Mizoram, the BJP fielded highest women, even as the party did not contest all 40 seats. Out of the BJP’s 23 candidates, three were women. The Congress, which fought elections on all 40 seats, fielded two women. The AAP fought the election with four candidates and none were women. In total, there were 174 candidates in Mizoram and only 18 were women.
PARTY-WISE REPRESENTATIONS
Among the major political parties, only the Congress and BJP have fought elections in all five states. Of the 667 candidates from the Congress, 90 were women – about 13%. For the BJP, of the 654 candidates, only 78 women in the fray.
Mayawati’s BSP and Arvind Kejriwal’s AAP fought elections in four states. Of the 532 candidates from BSP, only 59 were women. In the AAP, 21 out of 210 candidates were women.
How many of these women who contested the elections will make it to the assemblies will be disclosed after the counting of votes on Sunday.
Comments
0 comment