Only 16 women candiates have been fielded by the ruling BJP and opposition Congress for phase one of the Gujarat Assembly polls though both the parties back the Women’s Reservation Bill that provides 33 per cent reservation.
While the BJP has fielded 11 women candidates, the Congress has named just five candidates for the 87 assembly seats that will go to the polls on December 13 across Saurashtra, South Gujarat and four seats in western Ahmedabad district.
The Gujarat Parivartan Party (GPP), a new entrant to the political battlefield this year, headed by former Chief Minister Keshubhai Patel, has fielded only one woman candidate.
Explaining the rationale behind few women taking to politics, Associate Professor, Department of Sociology, Gujarat University, Gaurang Jani said, “Political awareness is less among women from rural areas and in urban areas, only the successful women candidates are repeated.”
According to Jani, the State Government, on its part, has not undertaken measures to empower women and create educational awareness about political participation, adding that Gujarat lags behind on key social indicators such as female foeticide, the infant mortality rate and high malnutrition rate, among others.
Highlighting that elections have not been held in State Universities for many years, Jani said student politicians are nurtured in colleges and universities.
Echoing similar views, the Gujarat Mahila Federation (GMF), an organisation working for women’s empowerment, President Ila Pathak said women were not allowed to dabble in politics as it is considered “taboo” to do so.
She added that male politicians are well-connected locally and in rural areas, there are not enough women candidates who can enter the fray and that is why political parties have less number of seats for women to contest.