Women’s candidacy in coming Lok Sabha polls marginal in Bihar

Patna: After the Nari Shakti Vandan Adhiniyam Bill was introduced in Lok Sabha in September last year, it seemed the much-hyped ‘acche din’ (good days) for women in politics would come true. Hopes were high that the women would get a fair share of participation as contestants in the Lok Sabha elections in 2024.
However, the lists of candidates released by various political parties for the 40 Lok Sabha constituencies in Bihar tell a different story. Not even a dozen names of women are there.
It seems there is a clear message for the women political leaders in the state that they still have to go a long way to get considered as strong contenders for any Lok Sabha seat and that caste identity and family lineage still enjoy better preference than their political acumen.
The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), which portrays itself as the champion of women’s rights, has not fielded a single woman candidate from any Lok Sabha seat in Bihar. It is contesting elections from 17 Lok Sabha seats, but the list of candidates has no woman.
Even chief minister Nitish Kumar-led Janata Dal (United) [JD(U)], which is contesting elections from 16 seats in the state, has accommodated only two women, Lovely Anand and Vijay Lakshmi Kushwaha, in its list of candidates.
Both had joined the party recently. Lovely is the wife of gangster-turned-politician and former MP Anand Mohan. She had shifted membership only a few days ago from Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) to the JD (U).
Vijay Lakshmi is the wife of the former Rashtriya Lok Morcha MLA Ramesh Singh Kushwaha. She too had recently joined the JD(U), along with her husband. She has been given the party ticket to contest the election from the Siwan seat, while Lovely has been fielded from the Sheohar Lok Sabha constituency.
The Lok Janshakti Party (LJP) (Ramvilas unit), which has been given only five seats in the state, has fielded a woman candidate, Shambhavi Choudhary, from Samastipur, a reserved seat for the Dalits.
She is the daughter of state rural development department minister Dr Ashok Choudhary and the granddaughter of former minister Mahavir Choudhary.
A better status for women politicians seems to be on the list of candidates released by the RJD, which is contesting 26 seats in the state and has nearly half a dozen women in the fray.
On the Jamui seat, the party has given a ticket to one Archana Ravidas from Jamui. Bima Bharti, former JD(U) MLA from Rupauli assembly constituency in Purnea, has filed nominations for the Purnea seat as the RJD candidate. Meanwhile, Rohini Acharya, the second daughter of former Bihar chief minister Lalu Yadav, has been fielded from Saran, where she will be up against sitting BJP MP Rajeev Pratap Rudi.
Another woman candidate, Anita Devi, an MLA from Nokha in Rohtas and wife of gangster Ashok Mahto, has been fielded from the Munger seat. While Lalu Yadav’s daughter and Rajya Sabha MP Misa Bharti has once again been fielded from the Patliputra seat.
No Left parties have given tickets to any women candidates. Even the Congress Party has no women on its list of candidates. The Congress has so far declared candidates for only three seats – Katihar, Kishanganj and Bhagalpur.
There are altogether 40 Lok Sabha constituencies in the state.
In the National Democratic Alliance, which consists of the BJP, the JD(U), Lok Janshakti Party (LPJ) and Hindustani Awam Morcha (HUM), the BJP is contesting elections from 17 seats, the JDU has got 16 seats, and the LJP has been given five seats. The HUM and Rashtriya Lok Manch have one seat each.
The INDIA bloc parties consist of the RJD, Congress, Communist Party of India (Marxist–Leninist) Liberation (CPI-ML), Communist Party of India (Marxist) (CPI-M), Communist Party of India (CPI), and the Vikasshil Insaan Party (VIP).
Of the 40 Lok Sabha seats, the RJD is contesting 26 seats. The Congress is contesting nine seats, the CPI-ML has been given three seats, and both the CPI and CPI-M are contesting seats each. Besides, Mukesh Sahni-led VIP has been promised three seats in the state.
“But the status of women candidates in the candidate’s list of most of the political parties is grim and discouraging,” Meena Tiwari, National general secretary of the All India Progressive Women’s Association (AIPWA), said.
Even the Left parties could not do justice to them, she added.
Kanchanbala, a social activist who runs the Loktantrik Jan Pahal, said the most disappointing was the list of candidates from the BJP. “The party has been claiming to be the champion of women’s rights, but not a single woman has been given a ticket to contest the Lok Sabha elections,” she said.
She added that one thing was clear women leaders in Bihar are still not trusted by the political parties.
Amrita Singh, BJP state vice president, said the party had this time repeated old faces in most seats. She added that the party could not find any strong woman candidates for the seats where old faces have been replaced by new ones.
Loktantrik Jan Pahal member and leader Kanchan Bala said it is no better than the other political parties. “The two women fielded by the JD(U) have Bahubali (criminal-turned-politicians) background,” she said.
Even in the RJD and LJP, women who have family connections with some former chief ministers and ministers, she added.
Kiran Ranjan of the JD(U) said that some of these women candidates had been absolute freshers. “It is frustrating for the women workers who have worked for years to strengthen the base of the party. But when there is an election, mostly the women with Bahubali background get tickets,” she said.