The husbands of the newly elected women representatives in the Panchayat elections are calling the shots and are dictating their activities in the Panchayati Raj bodies. Panchayat election in all districts of Uttarakhand, barring Haridwar, was held recently in the three-tier Panchayati Raj bodies of the State.
There is a reservation of 50 per cent in all tiers of the Panchayat bodies in the State. There are 7,657 Village Pradhans, 3,054 member Block Panchayat and 389 Member District President in these 12 Districts of Uttarakhand. The constitution has bestowed power on the womenfolk, but in the rural landscape the reality is that these elected women are still ignorant about the power and the politics associated with it.
The term Pradhan Pati (husband of Pradhan) is widely used in the administrative set up of the Panchayati raj system. In the run-up to the indirect elections of the Block Pramukh and President District Panchayat these husbands of the elected women Members of Block Panchayat and Members of District Panchayat are doing all the negotiations and deals on the behalf of their wives.
One newly elected women member of Block Panchayat from Kaljikhal block of the Pauri Garhwal district said that since the seat of their area was reserved for women, her husband who was a former Pradhan asked her to file the papers. "I did nothing, all activities like taking the nomination form, election campaign and arranging parties for the voters were done by my husband," she disclosed. Interestingly, some of these husbands are also kept in captivity along with other elected male members by the aspirants of Block Pramukh and President District Panchayat. The aspirants who fear poaching by the rivals put their supporters in some secret resort or hotel and from here, they would be transported directly on the day of voting.