E-Paper
Rajasthan elects only two women MPs
A woman CM maybe, but women play only a marginal role in politics in deeply traditional Rajasthan as poll result has illustrated, with only two of the 14 women in the fray winning.
Ruled by a woman chief minister maybe, but women play only a marginal role in politics in deeply traditional Rajasthan as the election result has illustrated, with only two of the 14 women in the fray winning.
This is even lower than the last elections in 1999 when Rajasthan, which sends 25 representatives to the Lok Sabha, had three women MPs.
The two successful contestants this time were from the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). Kiran Maheshwari won in Udaipur against former state Congress president Girija Vyas and Bahujan Samaj Party's (BSP) Sunita Gurjar. She was elected from the city of lakes by over 74,000 votes.
The other winner was B. Sushila, wife of former BJP national president Bangaru Laxman, who defeated former minister Buta Singh in the Jalore reserved constituency by a margin of over 282,000 votes.
The 14 women candidates included four from the BJP, one from the Congress, two from the BSP and one from the Samajwadi Party.
Amongst the first runners-up was Santosh Ahlawat of the BJP who lost by a margin of over 23,000 votes to Sis Ram Ola of the Congress in Jhunjhunu. Minister in Atal Bihari Vajpayee's cabinet Jaskaur Meena lost to former police official and Congress candidate Namonarain Meena in Sawai Madhopur by over 111,000 votes.
Despite an electorate comprising 10.5 million women voters, some of the contestants even lost their deposits.
In the December assembly elections, when Chief Minister Vasundhara Raje Scindia took office, the BJP fielded 21 women but only nine won. The Congress fielded 19 women but only one won. Two women contesting as independents also emerged victorious.
