Nagpur: Political parties in Maharashtra have been whipping up rhetoric on women's empowerment, equal representation in politics and launching flagship schemes like Ladki Bahin. But despite constituting nearly 50% of the electorate, only 5% women have been in the fray since formation of Maharashtra on May 1, 1960.
On studying Election Commission of India (ECI) data of 13 assembly elections since 1962 — when Maharashtra first went to polls — a mere 5% women have ever contested across party lines.
Statistics compiled by TOI also revealed that around 33,341 people contested in 13 assembly elections since 1962 and of these, only 1,656, or around 5%, were women contestants, as per ECI data. From 1962 to 2019, around 3,684 people won assembly polls of which only 161 (or 4%) were women.
NCP (Ajit) faction's first rebel, Abha Pande, who filed her nomination as an Independent on Thursday told TOI that "political parties may float Ladki Bahin schemes and talk about strengthening women, but we are denied the opportunity to contest. We may be qualified, popular and enigmatic, but suddenly we are not worthy of a ticket."
In the first Maharashtra assembly election in 1962, around 1,161 candidates contested for 264 seats of which only 36 were women and only 13 (or 36%) won. However, this percentage dropped drastically in 2019 assembly election, in which 239 women contested, but only 24 (or 10%) won. Ironically, the 2019 assembly polls saw the highest number of women — 24 — winning elections in the last six decades.
The highest number of women candidates — 277 — were in the assembly poll ring in 2014 of which only 20 won. In the 1972 assembly election, around 56 women candidates contested elections, but not a single woman won. In assembly elections of 1967, 1978, and 1990, the number of winning women candidates remained in single digits, that is, 9, 8, and 6, respectively.
"Various parties churn out women appeasement policies ahead of polls, but when it comes to fielding candidates, parties irrespective of ideology, give women the cold-shoulder," said Payal Dhanvij, a top banker.
Another woman ticket aspirant told TOI that political parties still prefer to field male candidates. With the candidate list of many big parties is yet to come, it will be important to see how many women candidates make the cut.
(With inputs from Ved Ghulghule & Shifra Newton)