Page 18 - 30APR2019E
P. 18
CoverStory
the cause of women representation. In 2014, the same constituency. In Odisha, Anita Priyadarshni is
BJP fielded only 38 women candidates (8.9 per cent the daughter of Ramakrushna Patnaik,a former min-
of all candidates), against 60 for Congress (12.9 per ister in Naveen Patnaik’s cabinet. In Uttar Pradesh,
cent of all candidates). So far, the BJP has given 36 Sanghamitra Maurya is the daughter of Swami Prasad
tickets to women candidates (12.2 per cent), against 26 Maurya, current MLA from Padrauna.
tickets given by Congress (11.9 per cent). The BJP is doing In Gujarat, Poonamben Hematbhai is the daugh-
better than it did in 2014 and the Congress worse, if ter of a four-time MLA. In Madhya Pradesh, Himadri
one considers their report card in 2014, either gener- Singh belongs to an extensive political family that
ally, or within the exact same seats. includes two MPs.
Twelve women BJP candidates are re-running in- Other women contestants come with strong local
cumbents, among whom are Poonam Mahajan, presi- political experience. In Assam, Queen Ojha is a former
dent of the BJP’syouth wing; Heena Gavit, the current mayor and former Asom Gana Parishad candidate
Lok Sabha’s youngest member; Pritam Munde; and of the 2011 state elections. In Sarguja, Chhattisgarh,
Hema Malini. Renuka Singh is a former MLA and a well-known
Fourteen BJP women contestants belong to political tribal leader. She served as woman and child devel-
families.Five of them are contesting in Maharashtra: opment minister in the Raman Singh government.
Poonam Mahajan is the daughter of the late Pramod Also in Chhattisgarh, Gomti Sai is a tribal leader and
first-time contestant. Both candidates in Trithala
(Kerala) and Raiganj (Bengal) are former contestants.
The Lok Sabha elections Other women candidates include Locket Chatterjee,
a classical dancer and an actress, president of the BJP
that had begun on April women’s wing in West Bengal.
The Congress, which has pledged to pass the Wom-
11 saw 1,279 candidates en’s Reservation Bill if it comes back to power, does
not seem in a hurry to make gender equality a reality.
battling it out in 91 Eight women candidates are re-running contestants,
including Sonia Gandhi, Priya Dutt, Sushmita Dev, S
constituencies in the first Jothimani, Deepa Dasmunsi, Meenakshi Natarajan
and Annu Tandon. One re-running candidate, Savit-
ribai Phule, is a BJP turncoat.
of the seven-phase polls mita Dev, president of the All India Mahila Congress, is
Thirteen of them belong to political families. Sush-
that will determine who the daughter of veteran Congress leader Santosh Mo-
han Dev, former MP and Cabinet minister. Her moth-
will rule the country for er, Bithika Dev, is the Silchar MLA in Assam. Shruthi
Devi is the daughter of former TDP Union minister V
the next five years Kishore Chandra Deo. Dolly Sharma in Ghaziabad is
the daughter of the local Congress chief; ManjariRahi,
running in Misrikh (UP) is the daughter-in-law of for-
mer Congress MP and Union minister Ram Lal Rahi.
Deeepa Dasmunsi, contesting from Raiganj is the wife
Mahajan, Pritam Munde is the daughter of former BJP of former Union minister and Congress stalwart from
leader Gopinath Munde, Heena Gavit is the daugh- Bengal Priya Ranjan Dasmunsi. Shruthi Devi is the
ter of a prominent ex-NCP politician, Raksha Nikhil daughter of former Union minister V Kishore Chan-
Khadse is the daughter-in-law of BJP leader Eknath dra Deo (TDP).
Khadse, and Kanchan Rahul Kul is the wife of Rahul Not all Congress women candidates hail from an af-
Kul, a turncoat MLA in Daund, a seat previously held fluent backgrounds. Remya Haridas, in Alathur, is the
by her mother-in-law. daughter of a daily wage labourer. Several non-dynas-
In Andhra Pradesh, DK Aruna, who is to contest tic candidates also possess prior political experience.
from Mahbubnagar, belongs to an expansive politi- Shamimol Usman is a former secretary of the All In-
cal family. Bangaru Shruthi in Nagarkurnool is the dia Congress Committee. Kaisar Jahan is a former BSP
daughter of former BJP president Bangaru Laxman. MP, Omvati Devi is a former SP MP from Nagina.
In Uttarakhand, Mala Rajya Laxmi, the incumbent
MP from Tehri Garhwal, is the wife of the Maharaja MusliM candidates
of Tehri Garhwal and daughter-in-law of Manaben- In 2014, the Congress distributed 32 tickets to Mus-
dra Shah, who is an eight-time former MP from the lim candidates (6.9 per cent of all candidates), against
tehelka / 30 april 2019 18 www.tehelka.com
