As Dhamnagar assembly constituency in Odisha goes to bypoll on Thursday following the death of Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) MLA Bishnu Sethi, the nomination of a woman self help group (SHG) member by the ruling Biju Janata Dal (BJD) has triggered speculations of the party experimenting with more and more women candidates to beat the possible anti-incumbency in the 2024 Assembly polls.
The party saw a revolt after SHG member-turned-panchayat samiti chairperson Abanti Das was declared a party candidate last month ahead of formidable leaders like Rajendra Das and Muktikanta Mandal (both former MLAs). Das, who headed a woman self help group in Tihidi block of Bhadrak district, one of the 6 lakh such SHGs in Odisha that have been economically and socially empowering women since 2000, made her political debut in March this year after being elected as chairperson of the panchayat samiti of Tihidi. The decision did not go down well with former party MLA Rajendra Das, a ticket aspirant, who is standing as an independent candidate and has now been expelled from the party.
Chief minister Patnaik, who has won at least three assembly elections - 2009, 2014 and 2019 - solely due to women voters, on Monday made no secret of his plans of bringing more and more women to the forefront of politics.
“Women are now empowered. Mission Shakti is their new identity. The good work of Women SHGs has made me very happy. So I want to see a ‘Maa’ as your MLA. You want too. Women are able to perform all the responsibilities beautifully. With your help, Odisha is now famous all over the country in the field of development. I fully believe that this trend will continue further with your support,” he said, in a virtual address to the voters of Dhamnagar.
{{/usCountry}}“Women are now empowered. Mission Shakti is their new identity. The good work of Women SHGs has made me very happy. So I want to see a ‘Maa’ as your MLA. You want too. Women are able to perform all the responsibilities beautifully. With your help, Odisha is now famous all over the country in the field of development. I fully believe that this trend will continue further with your support,” he said, in a virtual address to the voters of Dhamnagar.
{{/usCountry}}If Abanti Das wins the bypoll on November 6, she will become the second BJD candidate who successfully makes it to the Assembly or Lok Sabha from an SHG background. In 2019, Pramila Bisoyi was the first SHG leader who was given party ticket to contest Lok Sabha polls from Aska Parliamentary constituency. Besides Bisoyi, six other women candidates of the BJD won in the 2019 Lok Sabha polls, as the party went to town trumpeting about giving tickets to 33 per cent of the Lok Sabha seats to women.
While 2024 election is at least one and half years away, many BJD leaders see the Dhamnagar experiment of giving party ticket to an SHG leader as a bigger experiment of giving more and more representation to SHG women.
“In 2000, when Naveen Patnaik was first elected as the CM, only 55.6 % of the women electorate cast their votes as against 63.8% of men voters. In 2019 polls, close to 75 % of the women electorate exercised their franchise as opposed to 71% men. Of these 75 per cent women voters, more than 80 per cent voted for the BJD. One can safely say that almost all the women votes that we got were from 70 lakh SHG members,” said a senior BJD leader.
Party leaders said in 2022 panchayat polls held in March, more than 50 per cent of the women who were elected as ward members, panchayat samiti members, panchayat samiti chairpersons or zilla parishad members were SHG members. “In my district, more than 60 per cent of the elected women representatives in 2022 panchayat polls are from SHG. It makes sense to have an SHG candidate as the meetings are well-attended and women rally around her,” said Gitanjali Sethy, chairperson of Kendrapara zilla parishad.
In Keonjhar, district BJD chief Madhab Sardar said more than 50 per cent of the elected representatives in this year’s panchayat polls are from SHG. “I am sure this is going to be a trend in Odisha politics and I would not be surprised if tickets in one third of the 147 assembly seats are given to women and SHG members in 2024 polls,” he said.
Meanwhile, the women SHGs have benefitted immensely under the Odisha government’s flagship programme of Mission Shakti. Credit disbursement to women SHGs has gone up from ₹1,036 crore in 2016-17 to ₹4,190 crore in 2020-21. In the current fiscal, the figure is likely to reach ₹6,000 crore. The Mission Shakti department facilitates institutional finance to SHGs at 0% interest on loans up to ₹3 lakh. The State Cabinet provides ₹5,000 crore of business to SHGs annually with the members engaged in dozens of activities ranging from handling sewage treatment plants to collecting power bills. Last year, the government decided to lease out its properties, including village ponds, to SHGs to take up livelihood activities.
Political analyst Gyana Ranjan Swain said giving women SHG members political platform was a smart move by Naveen Patnaik to beat anti-incumbency in 2024 polls. “SHGs are institutional methods to serve the party as well as governance interests. As there are women in each and every rural and semi-urban households in Odisha, almost everyone have been benefitted by the SHG movement. As SHGs are neutral political forces and would not challenge Naveen Patnaik politically, it makes sense to give more and more tickets to SHG members,” said Swain.