CHENNAI: Tamil Nadu politics is still dominated by men. Among the 39 members it has returned to the 15th Lok Sabha, J Helen Davidson from Kanyakumari constituency is the only woman.
Fielded by the DMK, the 37-year-old mother of two children is the only woman to emerge victorious though there were a few women in the fray in various constituencies. The DMK’s other woman candidate was Gayathri Sridharan in Tiruvallur (reserved) constituency.
In Kanyakumari, Helen had a woman rival with a proven track record in Sivagami of the BSP, a former IAS officer.
Also, Tiruchy constituency had two women -- Charubala Thondaman, Tiruchy Mayor, fighting on a Congress ticket, and BJP candidate Lalitha Kumaramangalam, hailing from a family of politicians -- both of whom lost.
Another BJP woman candidate was Thamizhisai Soundarajan, a doctor by profession, who is the daughter of veteran politician, Kumari Anandan. She lost terribly from North Chennai, where she faced the winner T K S Elangovan of the DMK and CPI’s D Pandian.
The AIADMK, headed by a woman, had fielded just two women, Vairam Thamizarasi in Namakkal and Cynthia Pandian in Thoothukudi, both of whom lost to the DMK men. Cynthia Pandian was earlier the vice-chancellor of Manonmaniam Sundaranar University.
The DMDMK’s only woman candidate Parvatha Rajina Pappa.