Karnataka polls: Only 21 female candidates in fray for BJP, Congress as 'big boys' claim to focus on winnability

The 12 May Assembly polls in Karnataka is being viewed as a contest between Congress, BJP, and former prime minister Deve Gowda's Janata Dal (Secular). A total of 2,655 candidates are currently left in the fray of which only 219 are women, according to the figures provided by the Chief Electoral Officer's office.

While the Congress has given tickets to only 15 women candidates, the BJP has fielded merely six women.

Among the women candidates contesting on Congress' ticket are: Women and Child Welfare Minster Umashree from Tardal, Lakshmi Ravindra Hebbalkar from Belgaum Rural, Anjali Nimbalkar from Khanapur, Soumya Reddy from Jayanagar and Sushma Rajgopal Reddy from Bommanahalli. Nimbalkar is the grand-daughter of former Maharashtra chief minister SB Chavan and niece of his son, also former Maharashtra chief minister Ashok Chavan.

Other women nominees from Congress are Kirtana Rudra Gowda from Belur, Shakunthala T Shetty from Puttur, MC Mohan Kumari from Gundlupet, K Fatima from Gulbarga North, Motamma from Mudigere, Vani Krishnareddy from Chintamani, Roopa Sasidhar from Kolar Gold Field, Sharada Mohan Shetty from Kumta and AL Pushpa from Jagalur.

After the second list of candidates featured no women, BJP state spokesperson S Shantaram said candidates are selected on the basis of their "winnability". "The party has not considered the caste, gender, and other factors", he said, adding that he hoped the third list would have some women candidates.

BJP candidate Shashikala Jolle is re-contesting from the same seat, while Roopali Naik is a former civic corporator in Bengaluru. Poornim Srinavas is the party’s women wing’s secretary.

The JD(S), too, has not given tickets to a significant number of women representatives. After the party released the first list of candidates for 126 seats, JD(S) chief ministerial candidate HD Kumaraswamy had said that would increase its Muslim-women tally later. “We will ensure that the number of Muslims and women is increased in our second list of 98 candidates. In all, we hope to prop up 15 candidates from each group”, Hindustan Times quoted him as saying. The actual figures are yet to be released.

On average, only five percent of women who contest elections manage to win in Karnataka, with the 2008 and 2013 elections reporting just three percent, The Times of India reported.

Despite denying candidature to women, parties have acknowledged their importance as voters. According to an Economic Times report, freebies such as pressure cookers, sarees, and jewellery, are being distributed by candidates in a bid to woo women voters. The report further noted that the Election Commission seized gold worth over Rs 1.76 crore, silver worth Rs 15 lakh and 268 copper pots ahead of the polls.

Another Economic Times report said most women contesting in Karnataka have done so as Independent candidates. Citing Election Commission records, it reported that while the number of women nominees increased from 24 in 1957 to 175 in 2013, the number of women winners declined. Women comprise 49 percent of Karnataka's voters.

With inputs from agencies