All major parties announce schemes to woo women voters, but when it comes to ticket allotment, female candidates are looked down upon by their parties. Female candidates do not even have a fair representation in the elections, with only 15 women running from all national parties.
Out of the 561 nominations, final scrutiny will be conducted on 29 October. The ruling BJP has announced the ‘Naari Ko Naman’ scheme under which a 50 percent waiver has been given to women travellers on bus fares. AAP has promised a Rs 1, 000 monthly allowance to all women above 18 years, and Congress has gone a step ahead and promised Rs 1, 500 per month.
Going by the previous trends in Himachal Pradesh, women voters have outnumbered men since 1998. But when it comes to the distribution of tickets, they have, so far, suffered a bummer. This time, the BJP has given tickets to six women, out of which five are new faces in the fray. The Opposition Congress is banking on only three female candidates. While the Aam Aadmi Party gave six women tickets in its first election.
The BJP leader, Vandana Guleria, daughter of seven-time MLA and Minister Mahender Singh Thakur, who lost to her brother in the race to get a ticket seat, asked on social media: Why is it always a woman who has to make a sacrifice in a political dynasty.
Looking at the voting percentage in the year 1998, 72.21% of women cast their votes in Himachal, surpassing that of men (70.26%) for the first time. A total of 13.01 lakh voted against 12.84 lakh men. There were 25 female candidates in the fray, with five from the Congress and four from the BJP. Six women were elected to the House, which is the highest ever in Himachal legislative assembly history.
In 2017, the women’s voting percentage was 77.92%, while only 70.58% of men voted, a difference of 7.34 points. A total of 19.15 lakh women voted against 18.13 lakh men. There were 19 female candidates, with the BJP fielding six and the Congress fielding only three.Eleven female candidates lost their deposits in the elections, while four were elected to the Assembly: Asha Kumari from Dalhousie, Sarveen Choudhary from Shahpur, Reeta Devi from Indora, and Kamlesh Kumari from Bhoranj.Later, Reena Kashyap also entered the House after winning the Pachhad by-poll on the saffron party’s ticket.
Sudesh Kumari, member of the self-help group “Pihu,’’ said, “Political parties demean and ignore their women leaders with the excuse that they are not winnable candidates. It is sheer gender discrimination. This is why women are missing from policies and programs. For more than a decade, we have demanded that political parties reserve 33 percent of their tickets.”
