THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The Congress in Kerala has not been giving its women members their due, says a doctoral thesis.The study - “Women’s participation in the political process: A study of the Congress party of Kerala” - brings out several case studies showing how women at the forefront or on a par with men in other areas are lagging behind in the political process.
In the study, Reshmi Fernandez - assistant professor, Department of Political Science, Maharaja’s College, Ernakulam - argues there has never been a woman president for the Congress state committee. That when the party had two presidents, in Kunhikkavu Amma and Kuttimalu Amma, before the formation of a united Kerala. In fact, Kuttimalu Amma defeated Madhavan Nair to become the party president.
The study conducted with 530 active women Congress leaders spread across Thiruvananthapuram, Ernakulam and Kannur as participants, finds that women are not encouraged by their male patrons or leaders to contest major electoral battles, including Assembly and Parliament. While the 33 per cent reservation in local bodies has developed into a decent representation of women, in lawmaking bodies like Assembly and Parliament, the Congress party has a poor representation.
The study also states, of the number of women who had contested elections to the Kerala Assembly and the Parliament, the number of times a single person contests is more than that of different women contesting. The percentage of married women in the party is higher, with the participants saying that married women have higher credibility than others in public participation, especially in the Congress. Unmarried women fear character assassination and are reluctant to take part in the political process.
No woman has headed even the party’s frontal organisations like KSU, Youth Congress or INTUC.
Women headed the district congress committees twice: Saraswathi Amma was the Kollam DCC president and Bindhu Krishna is the current district president in Kollam. Sadly, 76.24 per cent of women leaders in the party were never given any political nominations and only 162 of the 530 women surveyed were given a chance to contest elections. Within the party, 68.4 per cent of women members say they are unhappy and dissatisfied at the status given to them, says the study.
Women in Congress history
Interestingly, when the Provincial Congress Committee was dissolved in 1930, and male leaders were arrested, women leaders were designated as “dictators” or “sarvadipathis”. Twelve ‘dictators’ or ‘sarvadipathis’ were appointed, Annie Mascarene among them. When Pattam Thanu Pillai was arrested on August 26, 1938, people came out in large numbers to protest against the arrest and Accamma Cherian led the protest march, showing the prominence of women in the Congress party of those days.
Political nominations
According to the study, 76.24 per cent of women leaders in the party were never given any political nominations and only 162 of the 530 women surveyed were given a chance to contest elections.