Poor women representation from Assam

Assam's women may claim to enjoy a better status in society in comparison to the members of its sex in other parts of the country but unfortunately this is not reflected in their political representation.

Assam's women may claim to enjoy a better status in society in comparison to the members of its sex in other parts of the country but unfortunately this is not reflected in their political representation.

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The number of women that the state elects to Parliament is abysmally low and so is the allocation of tickets by the different political parties in the state to them.

The number of women candidates contesting the 2004 Lok Sabha polls from the state has gone down to six in comparison to the nine each who contested in the 1999 and 1998 polls.

The Congress has re-nominated the sitting Lakhimpur MP Ranee Narah who is in a bid to retain it for the fourth consecutive term as the sole woman candidate of the party.

The BJP denied ticket to the sitting Guwahati MP and Union minister for Water Resources Bijoya Chakravarty to accommodate cultural icon Dr Bhupen Hazarika for the seat.

The party nominated only one woman candidate from Dhubri Jabeen Borbhuyan, who also enjoys the rare distinction of being the party's sole women Muslim candidate in the country.

The AGP has not nominated a single women candidate in this year's Parliamentary polls but expelled its former Rajya Sabha MP Dr Jayashree Goswami Mahanta for contesting as an independent from the Dhubri constituency.

The Shiv Sena and Samata Party has nominated a candidate each while the other is an independent candidate.