Himachal House to have lone woman member this time
The only woman to make it to the assembly this election is sitting Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) MLA Reena Kashyap from the Pachhad segment of the Sirmaur district. She defeated Congress’ Dayal Pyari by a margin of 3,857 votes
Though more women voted than men in the Himachal assembly elections, only one out of 24 who were in the fray could make it to the Vidhan Sabha, the lowest in the past 30 years.
The only woman to make it to the assembly this election is sitting Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) MLA Reena Kashyap from the Pachhad segment of the Sirmaur district. She defeated Congress’ Dayal Pyari by a margin of 3,857 votes.
The tally is three down from the 2017 elections when three women managed to reach the Vidhan Sabha. It was in 1977 when the state had only one woman legislator. In the 1998 polls, the voters sent the maximum eight women to the Vidhan Sabha.
A total of 24 women nominees were in the fray out of total 412 candidates for the 68 assembly segments this time. Of these the BJP had fielded six (8%) and Congress only three (4%).
Prominent women candidates who lost this time include Congress stalwart Asha Kumari who suffered defeat from BJP’s DK Thakur from Dalhouse, sitting BJP minister Sarveen Chaudhary, who lost to Congress’ Kewal Singh Pathania from Shahpur and Champa Thakur, daughter of former Congress minister Kaul Singh, who was defeated from the Mandi Sadar constituency.
According to the election commission data, 76.8% of women voted against 72.4% men this time. Himachal has total 55, 92,828 electors, of whom 28,54,945 are men and 27,37,845 women, which is 48.95% of the electorate.
Voting trends in assembly elections in the last two decades show that women voters have outnumbered men, playing a crucial role in electing the government.
Two constituencies — Bhoranj in Hamirpur district and Jubbal-Kotkhai in Shimla — have more women electors than men. In at least 16 constituencies, their number is almost equal to men voters.
It was only because of the high presence of women voters that the ruling BJP and the opposition Congress and even the new entrant AAP doled out sops for them. The Congress promised a monthly ₹1,500 stipend to women, and the AAP ₹1,000 per month. The BJP went a step ahead and released a separate manifesto for women promising 33% reservation in jobs and educational institutions, ₹25,000 for pregnant women, bicycles for school girls, students and scooters for those pursuing higher studies.
The state had 34 women candidates in the fray, the highest ever, in the 2012 elections. However, only three managed to sail through even as the female voter turnout was again more than that of men.
