Odisha chief minister Naveen Patnaik on Sunday announced that his party Biju Janata Dal (BJD) would field women candidates in at least 33% of the 21 parliamentary seats from the state in the upcoming Lok Sabha elections.
At the ‘Mission Shakti’ convention in the politically-important Kendrapara district, Patnaik made the announcement soon after the election commission said it would hold a press conference, apparently to announce Lok Sabha election schedule.
He was however silent on extending the same to the 147 assembly seats in the state, where BJD is up against a resurgent BJP that is eyeing at least 7-8 Lok Sabha seats, up from the one it had in 2014 elections.
“I would like to announce that Odisha will send 33% women to Parliament in the coming elections,” he said. “It was a dream of Biju babu (former CM Biju Patnaik) to empower women. Biju babu showed the way to the entire nation. He was the first in India to implement 33% reservation for women in the three-tier Panchayati Raj Institutions and government jobs. In order to fulfill his dreams, I am making this announcement today in the land of Lord Baladevjew.”
Patnaik said it is now incumbent on national parties like BJP and Congress to follow suit. They should be true to their words and must follow what they are propagating for women empowerment, he added.
Two days back, Congress president Rahul Gandhi at an election rally in Koraput district had promised to get the Women’s Reservation Bill (108th Constitution Amendment Bill) passed in Lok Sabha if Congress came to power.
Last November, Patnaik had moved a resolution in Odisha assembly seeking 33% reservation for women in state legislatures and parliament.
In the 2014 Lok Sabha polls, BJD had fielded 2 women candidates in Jajpur and Keonjhar. Later it nominated another women candidate from Kandhamal Lok Sabha seat after its sitting MP died.
In the 2014 Assembly polls, BJD had fielded 14 women candidates. It was followed by BSP’s 12, BJP’s 8 and 9 of Congress. A total of 115 women candidates had contested in the 2014 Assembly polls, roughly 8% of the total number of contestants. Only 56 women have been elected to the Odisha Assembly since 1936.
Of the 11 women MLAs in the current Assembly, ruling BJD has 10 members while the BJP has the rest one.
BJD sources said the chief minister may extend the same reservation percentage for women to Assembly constituencies to quell rising dissidence among the ranks.
Incidentally, a 2017 study on women’s participation in state Assembly polls found that women electors in the Odisha rooted for men candidates and voted out women contestants quite comprehensively despite a record turnout of women voters.
The study by political science professor Dr Susmita Patnaik and published in International Journal of Engineering Development and Research said even strong women candidates like BJP leader Surama Padhy and the BJD’s Hema Gamang failed to carry through as they lost to male contestants despite a whopping 75% women electors voting in the 2014 Odisha elections vis-a-vis a total turnout of 74%. Incidentally, 80% of the women contestants had lost even their deposits.