HYDERABAD: In Telangana, there are more women enrolled as voters than there are candidates contesting to represent them. Consider this, in the 2014 Lok Sabha elections, Telangana saw only one female MP, Kalvakuntla Kavitha, of 17 MPs. Yet, there were multiple Assembly segments across the State which reported more women voters than men. Once again, in this LS polls, there are 443 candidates in the fray, of which only 21 -- less than five per cent -- are women.
What is more, out of the 21 women contestants, a total of five are represented by the three major parties—TRS, BJP and Congress—put together. When Express spoke to some of the women candidates from these parties TRS nominee and incumbent MP from Nizamabad, K Kavitha, did agree to the problem.
Women’s representation in TRS up by 100%: Kavitha
Kavitha then went on to claim that the situation is better than the last Lok Sabha elections with 100 per cent increase in the women’s representation in her party. There was only one woman candidate from TRS last time. There are two candidates in the fray now.
BJP’s pick from Nagarkurnool, Shruti Bangaru denied the presence of any issue of under-representation of women.
“During the recent Assembly elections, BJP was the only party to field maximum women candidates... Among 17 parliament seats, having two women candidates is not a bad representation.” Whereas the only woman nominee from Congress, Renuka Chowdhury in Khammam fray, blamed the BJP government for poaching Congress’ women candidates (DK Aruna now a BJP candidate).