It’s still a man’s country in the Haryana Assembly elections, as only 51 women – most of them backed by political family or celebrity status – have been fielded by leading political parties.
Since it was recorded in Punjab in 1966, the state, known for its poor gender balance, has sent only 87 women to the assembly. Haryana has never had a woman minister.
An analysis of the list of candidates shows that the opposition Congress has fielded 12 women candidates, which is the highest number of parties in this election.
The Indian National Lok Dal (INLD) and the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP), who are contesting the elections in an alliance, have fielded 11 women candidates together while the ruling BJP has nominated 10 women candidates.
The alliance of Jannayak Janta Party (JJP) and Azad Samaj Party (ASP) has fielded eight women candidates in 85 seats while AAP’s list of 90 hopefuls has 10 women.
According to Haryana Vidhan Sabha records, in five assembly elections starting in 2000, a total of 47 women have become legislators in the state, which is notorious for its sex ratio – 916 women for every 1,000 men in 2023.
In the 2019 election, 104 women candidates, including Independent candidates, were in the fray. The 2014 election saw the highest number of women candidates – 13 out of 116 – win their seats. That number dropped to nine in the 2019 election.
Elections to the 90-member Haryana Assembly will be held on October 5 and the results will be announced on October 8.
In the fray this time is the daughter of Union minister Rao Inderjit Singh, Arti Singh Rao, who is contesting her first election from Ateli on a BJP ticket.
Former chief minister Bansi Lal’s granddaughter Shruti Chaudhary, who joined the BJP from the Congress earlier this year, is in the fray from Tosham.
Congress MLA and former state education minister Geeta Bhukkal said the Congress has fielded the highest number of women candidates as compared to other parties.
“The bill authorizing the reservation of 33 percent of women in Parliament and state assemblies was passed but it will come into effect in 2029, which is a joke even for women,” he said.
Bhukkal enters the contest from Jhajjar.
Throwing his hat in the Congress ring in Julana in the Jind district is Vinesh Phogat – a fighting icon who became the face of the protest against sexual harassment and retired from sports after the shocking end of his golden campaign in Paris 2024. Olympics.
She is competing against AAP’s Kavita Dalal, the first Indian woman to compete in a WWE tournament.
The most prominent female candidate is Savitri Jindal, Asia’s richest woman and chairperson of the OP Jindal Group.
Although he was hoping to get a BJP ticket, the 74-year-old student has entered the fray as an independent and is contesting against Haryana minister and Hisar MP Kamal Gupta.
Chitra Sarwara, the daughter of Mr Bhupinder Singh Hooda’s former confidant, Nirmal Singh, has entered the fray as an independent from the Ambala Cantonment seat after being denied a ticket by the Congress.
Sarwara contested the 2019 elections as an independent after the Congress denied him a ticket and came second with over 44,000 votes.
This time, he is pitted against BJP’s Anil Vij – a six-time MP and former home minister – and Congress’ Parvinder Singh Pari.
AAP’s Rabia Kidwai is the first woman elected from Nuh, a predominantly Muslim constituency.
Mrs. Kidwai also has an important political lineage as the grandson of Akhlaq-Ur-Rehman Kidwai, the 13th ruler of Haryana.
Joining the fray in Badshahpur, the largest district in Haryana, Kumudni Rakesh Daultabad as an independent.
Her husband Rakesh Daultabad was an MP from the seat after winning the polls in 2019 as an independent. He died earlier this year following a heart attack.
According to a study by Ashoka University’s Triveni Center for Political Data (TCPD), women’s representation in Haryana has been a cause for concern, given the state’s history of bias and crimes against women, and poor performance in gender-related metrics.
“The growing number of women contesting the Vidhan Sabha elections over the years and their ability to vote freely over men from 2000 to 2019 in the state elections comes as part of women’s politics in Haryana. However, among the women MPs elected during the said period, many come from rich political families , leaving the conditions unchanged,” he said.
“While such shifting political practices provide opportunities for women to compete, represent and advance the interests of their allies, it leads to the concentration of power in already strategic political families,” the TCPD study added.
A professor of political science at the Central University of Haryana in Mahendergarh said the state’s politics still focus on male education.
“Tickets are given to women from big political families only. It can be seen that it is difficult for women to succeed if they enter the contest independently or without strong political support,” she said.
“It is the same that there has been only one woman who ran as an independent candidate, Shakuntla Bhagwaria, from 2000 until now who won the election as an independent, in 2005,” he added.
Published – September 23, 2024 12:11 pm IST