Just two days left for the second phase of the polls to begin in the biggest block of the district, Bahadrabad, the political hullabaloo seems to have reached its crescendo.
However, the funniest part of the story is that while the women contestants are hiding in their precincts of their homes the male leaders are coming in the front, canvassing and making rounds of Panchayat Bhawan. Even though the State Government has reserved 50% of the seats for the women as a step towards women empowerment, the harsh reality on the ground remains unchanged with the husbands of the women contestants doing the campaigning and the like, keeping the contestants inside the security of their homes.
The road leading from Bahadrabad crossing towards National Highway 58 is all lined up with posters, announcing the names of the candidates and their election symbols. The posters show both the women contestants and their husbands giving almost equal space to both. While the women are seen canvassing for votes on one side of the poster the other side shows the husband requesting for votes. Observers say that it seems the women candidates have no identity of their own separate from that of their husbands. “This feature of the election keeping the women contestants crouching in the shadows of their husbands nullifies the objective that the State government had in view while reserving half of the rural election seats for the women,” said an observer.
The ludicrous part of the story is that when the election symbols were announced in Roorkee block where 370 women candidates are in the fray it became difficult for the officials on- duty to recognize the candidates as with every name being called out a man appeared.
Speaking to The Pioneer, assistant election officer, Gyandendra Pratap Singh said, “When the name of the woman candidate was announced someone’s brother-in-law or father-in-law came up on their behalf. Husbands lined up for many such contestants. We sent them back and asked the candidates to come in person and sign for the record.”