Rooting For Gender Equality, Naveen Patnaik¡¯s Biju Janta Dal To Field 33% Women In LS Polls
Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik announced 33 per cent reservation for women in ticket allocation for the national elections in his party the Biju Janata Dal. The significant statement comes hours before announcement of Lok Sabha Elections 2019 dates by the Election Commission Assembly elections will take place in the state along with national elections. In India women remain underrepresented in state and national decision-making bodies.
Setting a milestone and walking the talk for equality, Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik today announced 33 per cent reservation for women in ticket allocation for the national elections in his party, the Biju Janata Dal. The significant statement comes hours before announcement of Lok Sabha Elections 2019 dates by the Election Commission.
Assembly elections will take place in the state along with national elections.
In India, women remain underrepresented in state and national decision-making bodies. According to a report by the Association of Democratic Reforms (ADR) and National Election Watch (NEW), the state of representation of women in the country¡¯s policy-making process continues to be miserable, with only 9 per cent women MLAs and MPs across the country in 2019.
The public and political discourse around female politicians has gained momentum in the recent years, the desired results are far from being achieved. Women empowerment and political legacies of female politicians like Indira Gandhi, Sushma Swaraj, Sonia Gandhi and Nirmala Sitharaman are among the favourite topics of discussion, but an increase in the number of female politicians remains unimpressive.
Reuters
The ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) had the highest number of women MPs and MLAs at 150, followed by Congress at 91 and Trinamool Congress at 44.
Out of 1,616 MPs and MLAs in BJP, 1,466 or 91 per cent are men. Out of 1,007 MPs and MLAs in Congress, only nine per cent are women. Out of 260 MPs and MLAs in Mamata Banerjee-led Trinamool Congress, 216 or 83 per cent of them are men. In BJD, 15 out of 147 MPs and MLAs are female.
Sikkim, at 10.30 per cent, tops the list in highest percentage of women candidates in state assembly elections. It is followed by Bengal, Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand and Delhi.
Over the years, issues surrounding women empowerment have taken the centre-stage. Initiatives like Beti Bachao, Beti Padhao and triple talaq have become regular topics and debate in political circles, however little of it translates into sharing of power in political structures.
According to the Inter-Parliamentary Union, women make up only 11.8 per cent of the Lok Sabha and 11.4 per cent of Rajya Sabha.