More women voters in Bastar, but meagre representation

In Chhattisgarh's Bastar, 10.4 lakh women outnumber 9.97 lakh men eligible to vote, yet only one woman candidate each from Congress and BJP are contesting. Despite initiatives to empower women, their representation in electoral politics is low. Women are active socially and politically, but winnability is a factor. With Parliament passing Nari Shakti Vandan Adhiniyam, 20% of Congress candidates and 14% of BJP candidates are women. Family legacy is a factor for the two women candidates in Bastar. Rising awareness and education may lead to more women in legislative arena.

In Chhattisgarh’s Bastar, a region said to be holding the key to power in the poll-bound State, the number of registered women voters at 10.4 lakh outnumber the 9.97 lakh men eligible to vote. Yet, between them the two major political parties, the ruling Congress and the main Opposition Bharatiya Janata Party, have fielded only one candidate each out of the 12 Assembly constituencies in Bastar.  

The Congress’ Savitri Mandavi who is contesting from Bhanupratapur in Kanker and the BJP’s Lata Usendi from Kondagaon are two of the women candidates out of a possible 24. All except one of these seats are reserved for tribals and will go to polls on November 7, when voting for the first phase of the two-phase Assembly elections will be held. 

Ms. Usendi — a national vice-president of the BJP apart from being a former three-time MLA and a former Minister in the State — is not convinced that women are not given adequate representation in her party and points out that the relative socio-political status of women is better in Bastar and tribal societies in general. 

“The issue of candidates is a different one, but there are no problems whatsoever as far as developing women leadership in the State is concerned. We have women in zila panchayats and janpad panchayats. Even at an organisational level, we have many women holding key posts in Bastar. In the tribal societies, women get equal rights and perform a key role in running families as well within the community set up,” Ms. Usendi, who is in the fray for the fifth time, adds. 

Congress’s State media in-charge Sushil Anand Shukla also agrees that participation of women in the social structure is significant, but acknowledges that it needs to be reflected in electoral politics as well. “It was our endeavour to field more and more women but winnability is also a factor. Overall, in the State, 20% of our candidates are women,” he says. 

However, there are other factors that make the issue of representation, or lack thereof, for Bastar women an anomaly and pose a question if it is apathy at the grassroots that is preventing women from rising up in the hierarchy. 

First, since undivided Madhya Pradesh days and the years thereafter, a series of initiatives have been taken to empower women socially and politically in the Chhattisgarh, key among them is a 50% reservation for them in local bodies introduced in 2008, raising it from the 33% since 1991.