Elections remain a ‘male’ affair in Pink City

Most political parties keep women empowerment as one of their agendas in both Lok Sabha and Vidhan Sabha elections, but the number of women candidates fielded by them tell a different tale. In Jaipur district, which has 19 constituencies, there has been a negligible women representation, with only a handful of them contesting and even lesser number turning out to be winners.
In the last two decades, only few names like Indira Mayaram from Sanganer and Kamla from Bairath in 1998 or Ganga Devi from Bagru in 2008, come to mind when talking about women representation.
“There is perhaps still a mindset in the political parties that women are still not capable enough to contest elections. This thinking is not a new phenomenon, but something which is ingrained in the minds of the people from decades, though it is slowly changing now. In actuality, women work on ground extremely efficiently and can be effective political leaders, but they just need the opportunity. Also, the voters are willing to accept women leaders,” said Rehana Rayaz, president, Rajasthan Mahila Congress.
Although Vasundhara Raje has been CM twice, the state capital fails miserably when it comes to women representation.
Some say that perhaps it has to do with the fact that women are ‘less vocal’ when it comes to asking for election tickets as well as the thought process of the political parties.
Suman Sharma, chairperson of Rajasthan Women Commission, said, “It is indeed surprising that the state capital has hardly had any women representation, irrespective of the political parties in question. It is possibly because most of us follow what the party decides, but Jaipur being the state capital should set an example when it comes to women candidates. Women are the ones who can actually get votes from the kitchens, but sadly, they are generally underestimated.”
This election might change this almost negligible representation with Congress fielding over 27 women candidates from across the state with Ganga Devi from Bagru again and Archana Sharma from Malviya Nagar.