Only 3 women candidates out of 21 in DMK: Thamizhachi Thangapandian defends her party
We’re in 2024. But gender equality is still a work in progress.
Recently, AICC spokesperson Shama Mohamed openly expressed her disappointment over the Congress party’s Lok Sabha candidates list for Kerala as it featured only one woman candidate.
Shama Mohamed’s remarks had come a day after Padmaja Venugopal crossed over to the BJP miffed at not being treated properly. Padmaja is the daughter of late Chief Minister K Karunakaran.
"You should give representation to women. Last time, there were two women candidates (from Kerala). But after passing of the Women Reservation Bill, there is only one this time. That is my greatest disappointment," Shama told reporters.
The AICC spokesperson said that even Ramya Haridas, who was fielded in her sitting seat of Alathur (a reserved constituency), is the only woman among the 16 candidates for Kerala.
Shama told The New Indian Express that opposition leader VD Satheesan has admitted that the party should give more importance to women. However, she expressed optimism that the party will correct course in the near future.
“I’ve clearly said whatever I’ve to say,” Shama Mohamed said.
“I’m optimistic,” she affirmed, when asked about a possible change in the Congress in the near future.
This after her run-in with KPCC president K Sudhakaran over the issue.
In Kerala, considered a “progressive state”, the CPI (M) has fielded only two women in the 15 seats the party is contesting. CPI has fielded one woman candidate in their five seats. BJP has fielded two women in 12 seats.
Neglect in Tamil Nadu too
In Tamil Nadu, the ruling DMK has only three women candidates in 21 seats, while the AIADMK has fielded only one candidate in the 32 seats the party is contesting.
The New Indian Express asked Thamizhachi Thangapandian, the sitting MP who has been once again fielded in South Chennai, about the lack of women in the DMK list.
She defended her party by noting that the importance DMK gives to women cannot be gauged by the number of women candidates fielded in this election. The leadership has to take into consideration various compulsions relating to the allies.
This time, Dr Rani Srikumar has been fielded as a new candidate from the Tenkasi Lok Sabha constituency, she noted.
The defence
Thamizhachi said the DMK government is implementing schemes that benefits elderly women, housewives and young women.
The Moovalur Ramamirtham Ammaiyar scheme, for instance, was implemented with an aim to raise the enrolment ratio of girls from government schools to higher education institutions. She then reeled off a slew of other schemes -- the Anjugam Ammaiyar memorial intercaste marriage scheme initiated by the late Chief Minister M Karunanidhi, the free bus scheme for women, the Dr Dharmambal Ammaiyar memorial widow remarriage scheme and the women’s property rights act, to name a few.
It was DMK which ensured 50 percent reservation for women in local bodies and again 50 percent reservation for women in government jobs, Thamizhachi Thangapandian went on to add.
"Kalaignar implemented 33 percent represention for women in local bodies and for 40 percent women in government jobs. After MK Stalin assumed office,reservation for women in local bodies and government jobs was increased to 50 percent," she said.
"Moreover, in every party conferences, as per the tradition of the party, only women will hoist the party flag," she noted.
The India picture
Having said that, it cannot be denied that Tamil Nadu and Kerala still have a long way to go in empowering women.
When we look at the figures from the 2019 Lok Sabha polls -- despite the Women’s Reservation Bill -- the only political parties to give above 30 percent representation to women were the TMC -- 37 percent, and BJD --33 percent, as per a report from the Association for Democratic Reforms (ADR) and National Election Watch, released in 2019.
According to ADR, India had only 9 percent women MLAs and MPs in the country in 2019.
Out of TMC’s 62 candidates, 23 were women while the Biju Janata Dal (BJD) gave seven out of 21 seats to women.
Further, the BJD has also emerged as the only party where 33 per cent of the MPs are women in Parliament. However, back in their state, the representation of women remains sad at just 14 per cent.
In terms of elected representatives, there are a few more parties that have 33 per cent or more women MPs in Parliament, including Maharashtra’s Nationalist Congress Party (NCP), Uttar Pradesh’s Samajwadi Party (SP) and the Jharkhand Mukti Morcha. However, the total number of women MPs from these parties is less than five.
According to another report from ADR, there were 767 MPs in Parliament from the two Houses. Overall, there are 656 male MPs and 111 women (15 per cent).
The Assemblies fare no better.
According to Global Data on National Parliaments, India ranks 143rd out of 184 nations in the monthly ranking of women in national parliaments.
Guess who leads the pack? Rwanda with 61.3 percent women. And India? We have only 14.7 percent women in parliament.