NEW DELHI, February 10: Women constitute a highly sought after target group for political parties. When the electoral arena is hot, the party that sways female voters earns the maximum dividends.Even as candidates try their level best to woo as many female voters as possible by making all kinds of promises, the real issues are brushed under the carpet.
While some parties have attempted to draw advantages from ``reservation politics'', others have put forth lucrative goals in their agenda. At an election meeting held recently in West Delhi, Sushma Swaraj announced that she would strive to subsidise technical education for women.
Countless promises are made everyday in the quest to impress the female voter.
History bears testimony to the advantages of wooing the female electorate. Former Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi succeeded in obtaining a record majority in Parliament due to an interplay of various factors, the primary being the sympathy wave that swept the female electorate. It is Sonia Gandhi'sturn now. Sonia often highlights the issue of empowerment of women during her electoral campaigns. How can women gain access to the corridors of power? All parties seem to be conscious of this problem. They even have many solutions, but only on paper, of course. If they can convince the female electorate to vote en bloc, they know that they will definitely win.
At the state level, both in Andhra Pradesh and Haryana, women swept to power NT Rama Rao and Bansi Lal on the prohibition plank. Political parties compete with each other to lure female voters. Another lucrative idea that drew a number of women was Uniform Civil Code. The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) supported it as a major step towards the empowerment of women. Says Ranjana Kumari, president, Mahila Dakshita Samiti, ``Our female politicians simply perpetuate the patriarchal political order. They never address the real issues like health of children, disparity in education and crime against women.''
Adds Mohini Giri, ``The women on the street isnot worried about increasing pollution or traffic jams created by VIP movement. She wants to get her daily meal and a roof over her head.''
But ironically, in spite of the big hue and cry made by parties regarding reservation of seats for women, very few women are contesting elections this time.
Leave alone the states, there are just four women contesting from the major political parties in the Capital: Sushma Swaraj, Meira Kumar, Sheila Dixit and Nisha Gautam.
At the national level, only 136 women have been given tickets. This is almost one-third the number that contested last elections. In the '96 polls, 21 women candidates contested elections in Delhi. Almost half of them were independent candidates.
Out of these women, only two, Meira Kumar and Sushma Swaraj, were successful. The rest of them even forfeited their security deposits.
Copyright © 1998 Indian Express Newspapers (Bombay) Ltd.
