Woman power
Too token a presence

There are only seven women in a House of 117. Though there has been plenty of talk on increasing women’s representation in the state legislature, the number of women MLAs in Punjab since 1960 has never been in double digits. This time, too, only seven women have made it to the Vidhan Sabha though 55 contested the elections, reports Amrita Dhaliwal

The women electorate is increasing by the year and is more or less at par with the male electorate. However, only seven women have been elected to the Punjab Vidhan Sabha in this year’s elections---a number which is less than the previous years. Fiftyfive women candidates had contested the elections this year.

All talk of 33 per cent reservation for women in the legislature notwithstanding, the number of women MLAs in any of the Punjab Vidhan Sabhas since 1960 has never entered even double figures. In 1960 when the strength of the House was 154, it had nine women legislators. Interestingly, the outgoing House of 117 also had nine women legislators. The number of tickets given to the women candidates is also not much. In 1969 the Punjab Vidhan Sabha remained without a woman legislator.

This year, too, though the number of candidates increased to 1050---the highest since the 1977 elections---the number of women candidates has decreased. This year only 55 women candidates contested the Assembly elections as compared to 70 in 2002. Eight of these had won the elections that year. In 1997, 52 women candidates had fought the election out of a total of 693 candidates.

The Shiromani Akali Dal had given tickets to five women candidates of the 94 seats it contested. Only two of them won. The biggest upset was Bibi Jagir Kaur, who lost the elections this year. The Congress fielded 10 women candidates of the 117 seats it contested. Four of them won the elections. Twenty of the 55 candidates contested the elections independently.

In four of the 117 constituencies, more than one woman candidate was in the fray. These included Amritsar central, Jalandhar cantonment, Chamkaur Sahib and Kharar. Five of the 10 women fielded by the Congress were from the Malwa belt, four from Doaba, while one was from the Majha region. In SAD three women were in the fray from Doaba and two from Malwa. The BJP's lone woman candidate is from the Majha region.

In 2002 the Congress had given tickets to 12 women candidates, out of which five had won. The Akalis had last time, too, fielded only five women candidates. This gave rise to the speculation that even women voters do not prefer to vote for women candidates. All talk of 33 per cent reservation for women in legislature notwithstanding, the number of women MLAs in any of the Punjab Vidhan Sabhas since 1960 has never crossed nine.

This comes as a big surprise as the number of voters and polling percentage of men and woman have been almost the same over the years, though the number of women candidates elected has not been. During the peak of militancy in 1992, the polling percentage was as low as 23.82.Then, too. the women voters had polled 21.59 per cent while men had polled 25.72 per cent votes.

Over the years the total polling percentage has always been above 64, with the disparity between men and women voters not more than 3 per cent ever. Analysts, however, argue that the women candidates are not that popular as they are seen less active during the 'five years.'

Interestingly, in eight of the 117 constituencies, the number of women voters is much more than male voters, and it is here that five of the women candidates of the 55 contested the elections.

Though always a minute minority in the House, the women MLAs have played their legislative role effectively in the state.

Effective role

Besides Mrs Bhattal becoming the chief minister and holding the office of deputy chief minister in the last government, she held important positions, both in the party and the Congress governments in the state. In 1960 and 1962, Dr Parkash Kaur was credited with pushing through Punjabi as the state language. Ms Sarla Prashar, who was elected to the Punjab Vidhan Sabha from Nangal in 1967, 1972 and again in 1980, also remained president of the Punjab Pradesh Congress Committee. Mrs Gurbrinder Kaur Brar was another prominent woman legislator of the state who was elected twice in 1972 and again in 1985. In 1960 the Punjab Vidhan Sabha had two women from royal families--- Kunwarani Jagdish Kaur and Raj Kumari Sumitra Devi---as its members. Two years later Begum Yusuf Jaman and Raj Kumari Sumitra Devi were among eight women legislators in the House. Among the Akalis, Mrs Satwant Kaur Sandhu has been perhaps the oldest woman legislator.

Interestingly, in 1969, the Punjab Vidhan Sabha remained without a woman legislator. It may be mentioned here that the BJP and the Communists have only sent one woman candidate each to the Punjab Vidhan Sabha---Luxmi Kanta Chawla and Vimla Dang---both from Amritsar, to the Vidhan Sabha in the past 46 years. Only two women candidates have held top positions in the state. They are Rajinder Kaur Bhattal, who was chief minister for a short tenure and deputy chief minister in the present government, and Sarla Prashar, a three-time Congress MLA from Nangal who had occupied the post of PPCC president.

This time, too, of the seven women who have won, four are from the Congress. The BJP gave only one ticket to a woman this time---Laxmi Kanta Chawla. She has not only won but also has been sworn in as a minister.

The women elected this year to the Assembly are, however, politicians in there own right. Well educated and achievers, they have proved time and again that they have the winning streak and are committed to work for the betterment of the state. Four of the seven elected to the Assembly are from the Congress, two from the Akali Dal and one from the BJP, while two of them have won for the first time.

A seasoned politician, Rajinder Kaur Bhattal has been elected for the fifth time to the Vidhan Sabha. This time, however, she has won by a narrow margin. Victory is victory, as she says. The only woman chief minister of Punjab, she was the deputy chief minister in the last government. She earlier won in 1980 from Dhanaula and in 1992, 1997 and 2002 from Leharagaga.

Upinder Jit Kaur from the Akali Dal is one of the most academically qualified women who have been elected. She entered politics in 1994. An MA in economics from the Delhi School of Economics, she holds a P.hd in the subject from Sydney. She also has a master’s degree in Punjabi. She won the Assembly elections earlier twice in 1997 and 2002. She was a minister in the earlier Akali Government. She has been sworn in for the second time this time too.

Seventythree-year-old Laxmi Kanta Chawla of the BJP is the only woman who was given a ticket and she has not only won but will also be a minister for the first time. She has a RSS background and retired as a lecturer from BK DAV College in Amritsar. She holds three masters degrees in English, Hindi and philosophy. "We would like to give Punjab a new direction and a new feature," she states on the surprising yet exemplary win of the BJP. Wanting to work for the betterment of the state and the people, she states: "I would like to work for the people and set an example. Most importantly, I would like to do away with corruption in various departments." Price rise is another issue she would like to address.

Rana Rajbans Kaur has won on a Congress ticket from Kapurthala for the first time. Wife of sitting MP Rana Gurjit Singh from Jalandhar, she, however, doesn't consider this as her first win. "My husband’s success is equally mine too.’’ Not bothered about any controversy, she feels it is all in the family. She now plans to be a responsible Opposition member and work for the betterment of her constituency.

Mohinder Kaur of the Akali Dal has won the elections for the third time from the Shyam Chaurasi constituency. She was minister for health when the Akali Government was last time in power. Sixtythree-year-old Kaur states that she wants to develop her constituency. "Until 1998 my constituency was the strong hold of the Congress and no development was done here. Though I have done a lot here, a lot still needs to be done." She is also keen that there should be reservation for women in the Assembly.

Razia Sultana from the Congress is amongst one of the youngest MLAs at 41. She is proud to be the only Muslim MLA who has won the elections twice from her constituency, Malerkotla. Prepared to play the part of a constructive Opposition, her main objective is the betterment of the socially deprived.

Harchand Kaur Ghanauri has won for the first time from the Sherpur constituency. She had earlier contested the elections in 1997 and 2002. Activists inform that this was for the first time that the Congress had won from this constituency. She now plans to work for the uplift of her constituency.