Zee Research Group/Delhi
For all the claims of giving greater say to women this election, of the total 318 candidates announced so far by the Congress party just about 14 per cent happen to be women.
The party has so far announced 43 women candidates.
The party announced its third list late last night. The first list had 194 names while the second and third list announced featured 71 and 58 candidates respectively.
Of 28 women candidates announced earlier in the first list, the party later brought it down to 26. Further, in the second and third list, the party selected 11 and six women candidates respectively for the polls.
A month ago, while addressing an all-women rally in Tumkur, Congress vice-president stated that the opposition party, BJP did not support women. Further, he charged then that BJP didn’t want to give either positions or share its administration with women.
Gandhi reiterated the view that the country can be transformed into a super power by giving more representation to the `fair sex`.
Key highlights:
1) So far, the Congress party has announced 43 women candidates for the upcoming polls.
2) Till now, the party has offered less than 14 per cent seats to women.
3) Maximum 11 candidates have been fielded from Uttar Pradesh (UP) followed by Rajasthan (6), Madhya Pradesh (3), Bihar (3) etc.
4) The party has listed its first preference to enact the women`s reservation bill.
This explains that why women remain grossly under-represented at the Indian Parliament. Just 11 per cent of seats were held by women in 15th Lok Sabha as against the global average of nearly 21 per cent.
As per state-wise list of Cong women candidates so far, maximum 11 candidates have been fielded from Uttar Pradesh (UP) followed by Rajasthan (6), Madhya Pradesh (3), Bihar (3), Chhattisgarh (3) etc.
Not ignoring the importance of UP which represents 80 out of the 543 members of Lok Sabha, the party has fielded some prominent women candidates from there. For instance, former Uttar Pradesh PCC chief Rita Bahuguna Joshi has been made the candidate from Lucknow.
Similarly, senior party leader Begum Noor Bano has been fielded from Moradabad, a Muslim-majority seat. Further, actress Nagma has received a ticket from Meerut.
Other prominent women who are given tickets by the party include: Atal Bihari Vajpayee`s niece Karuna Shukla (from Chhatisgarh), actress Aparajita Mohanty (Odisha), and journalist Sucharita Mohanty (Odisha).
Lok Sabha speaker Meira Kumar (Bihar) and sitting MP from Madhya Pradesh, Meenakshi Natrajan got selected to fight the upcoming general polls in the state.
Likewise, Priya Sunil Dutt (Maharashtra), Girija Vyas (Rajasthan), Chandresh Kumari (Rajasthan), Jyoti Mirdha (Rajasthan), Rajesh Nandini Singh (Madhya Pradesh), Ranee Narah (Assam), Divya Spandana Ramya (Karnataka), Deepa Dashmunshi (West Bengal), and Mausam Noor (West Bengal) are some other sitting MPs who got re-nominated for the big event.
Congress party`s has listed its first preference to enact the women`s reservation bill giving 33 per cent reservation to women in the Lok Sabha and assemblies.
