Amid hue and cry over 50 per cent reservation for women in Parliament and Assembly, none of the parties have filed a woman candidate for the forthcoming lok Sabha elections for Giridih constituency in Jharkhand. After scrutiny of the papers, 17 candidates are in poll fray; not a single candidate is female.
Of about 15 lakhs (14,82,421) voters in this constituency, the number of female voters are 6.85 lakh includes Giridih — 1,04,853 female voters, Dumri — 1,11,572, Gomia — 1,16,719, Bermo — 1,27,165, Tunid — 1,14,940 and Baghmara has 1,09,838 female voters who will play a vital role in deciding the fate of the contestants who are in poll fray.
Giridih lok Sabha constituency covers parts of Giridih, Bokaro and Dhanbad districts; comprises the six legislative Assembly (Vidhan Sabha) segments includes Giridih Assembly constituency — Giridih (32) and Dumri (33), Bokaro Assembly constituency — Gomia (34) and Bermo (35), Dhanbad Assembly constituency - Tundi (42) and Baghmara (43) is going for polls on 17 April.
Though, selection of a candidate to win the elections is the top most criteria for the each and every political party but they forgot that women voters play a ‘key role’ in the victory of a candidate in the election, said Neelam Devi a resident of Karni village under Dumri legislative assembly area adding “no parties have faith on any woman candidate for victory.”
Expressing her objection Punam Devi who runs a SHG said, despite women are more active then men in the electoral process, several political parties underestimate our power (power of women); “none of them were showed any interest for participation of women candidates for Giridih lS constituency”, she added.
Democracy cannot truly deliver for all of its citizens if half of the population remains underrepresented in the political arena, said Samar Bahadur Yadav, President of RJD Youth Wing, Bokaro.
“Woman often face daunting social, economic and political challenges, enhancing women’s participation in electoral processes can give a strong boost and open new panorama for holistic development”, Samar added.
