The Chipko movement of the 1970s, spearheaded by the women of Uttarakhand, made national and global headlines. However, the political process in the State has not hugged them back and they are still awaiting robust representation in the Assembly.
The Congress, which in the neighbouring Uttar Pradesh, has made women the main pivot of its general secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra-led campaign, has just given five tickets to women in Uttarakhand while the Aam Aadmi Party, a new entrant in the State, has fielded seven.
The Bharatiya Janata Party has not done any better by fielding eight women candidates, a bit more than 10% of the total 70 seats.
“Only 18 women had applied for Congress tickets in the State. We have given tickets to five of them,” “said Mathura Dutt Joshi, general secretary (organisation) of the Pradesh Congress Committee (PCC). According to him, the Mahila Congress has its own units in every district. He added that women also get accommodated in the PCC.
BJP’s spokesperson Shadab Shams said they have already given 33% reservation to women in the party organisation.
“The BJP always respects matri shakti (woman power),” he said. According to him, more than 100 women applied for the party ticket this time.
Of the total 13 women candidates fielded by the BJP and the Congress, four are carrying forward the legacy of their husbands. Mamata Rakesh (Congress), Savita Kapoor, Chandra Pant, and Kunvrani Devyani (all BJP) are contesting from Bhagwanpur, Dehradun Cantt, Pithoragarh and Khanpur respectively, seats which were represented by their husbands in the past.
While Ritu Khanduri (BJP), who is the daughter of former Chief Minister B.C. Khanduri, is in the fray from Kotdwar, the Congress has fielded former Chief Minister Harish Rawat’s daughter Anupama Rawat from Haridwar (rural) seat.
Former Minister Harak Singh Rawat’s daughter-in-law Anukriti Gusain is the Congress candidate from Lansdowne.
“Women’s organisations have been demanding 33% reservation in the ticket distribution. But these are mere talks, nothing happens on the ground,”said Kamla Pant, associated with Uttarakhand Mahila Manch, an organisation which played a big role in mobilising women during the Statehood movement.
‘Equations different’
On the question of lesser women candidates in the 2022 battle, Congress spokesperson Garima Mehra Dasauni said, “Uttarakhand is a newly created State. Political equations are different here. It will take time to break the shackles of the existing mindset. We have done an internal survey before giving the tickets. We are trying to give more representation to women.”
According to Census 2011, the literacy rate for women in Uttarakhand is 70.01%. Approximately 48% of the total voters are women. They have 50% reservation in 7,426 gram panchayats of the State. In six Assembly constituencies women voters outnumber men.
It is hence a surprise that the number of women entering the Assembly has not toucheddouble digitsin the last two decades.
In the first polls in 2002, only five of the 72 women candidates were elected to the Assembly. In 2007, 56 women were fielded of whom four won. In 2012, four out of the 63 women candidates got elected. The 2017 Assembly polls saw the presence of 58 women candidates of whom five won.
