Distribution of tickets: Women get a raw deal

PATNA: Political parties only talk of promoting women in different sectors, but ignore them when it comes to giving tickets to contest elections. Their reluctance is evident from the fact that the women’s reservation bill for 33% quota to them in the Lok Sabha and legislative assemblies has been hanging fire in Parliament for so many years.
The three National Democratic Alliance (NDA) partners — BJP, JD(U) and LJP — have fielded one woman candidate each out of the total 40 Lok Sabha constituencies in Bihar.BJP and JD(U) are contesting 17 seats each while leaving six for LJP. BJP has retained its Sheohar MP Rama Devi while JD(U), whose president and CM Nitish Kumar has legislated and implemented 50% reservation for women in panchayat and local body elections and strongly advocates for 33% quota to the fair sex in the legislature, has given just one out of its 17 seats to a woman, Kavita Singh from Siwan. If RJD fields former MP Mohammad Shahabuddin’s wife Heena Shahab from there, it will be a direct contest between two woman candidates. LJP has given ticket to Veena Devi from Vaishali seat.
Though RJD and its Mahagathbandhan partners have yet to announce their candidates for several seats, ally HAM(S), RLSP and Vikashseel Insaan Party (VIP) have hardly any woman among their probables, except for Congress, which may give ticket to former Lok Sabha Speaker Meira Kumar from Sasaram and retain its Supaul MP Ranjeet Ranjan. RJD has fielded its incarcerated former MLA Rajballabh Yadav’s wife Vibha Devi from Nawada. RLSP is contesting five seats while HAM(S) and VIP three each.
In percentage terms, BJP and JD(U) woman candidates are only 5.8% and in LJP it is 16%. BJP’s state spokesperson Nikhil Anand said, “Our party is concerned for women’s emancipation. Lok Sabha speaker, external affairs minister and defence minister are all women and we have good representation of women in central and state organizations.”
Sources said don-turned-politician Anant Singh is also eyeing a Congress ticket for his wife Neelam Devi from Munger seat.
RLSP national spokesperson Fazal Imam Mallick said, “We actually want to send women to the Lok Sabha, but right now we do not have probable candidates. However, we are in favour of women’s reservation in all fields.”
HAM(S) spokesperson Danish Rizwan said his party did not have enough seat to accommodate woman candidates. “However, in previous assembly election, we gave 25% tickets to women. We will compensate this representation in the similar manner in the state assembly elections to be held in 2020.”
Three women from Bihar are members of the current Lok Sabha — LJP’s Veena Devi representing Munger, Congress’s Ranjeet Ranjan representing Supaul and BJP’s Rama Devi representing Sheohar.