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Chandigarh: Haryana elections have been dominated by men so far and this time too only 51 women candidates are in the fray for the assembly elections. Most of the women candidates fielded by major political parties either belong to political families or are popular faces. Since Haryana became a state by separating from Punjab in 1966, only 87 women have been elected to the assembly. Haryana has always been in the news for its poor gender ratio and no woman has ever become the Chief Minister here.
Congress has the highest number of women candidates.
A look at the list of candidates for this time’s Haryana elections shows that the main opposition party Congress has fielded the maximum number of 12 women candidates. After this, the Indian National Lok Dal (INLD) and Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP), contesting in alliance, have jointly fielded 11 women candidates, while the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has given tickets to 10 women candidates. The alliance of Jannayak Janata Party (JJP) and Azad Samaj Party (ASP) is contesting 85 seats and has given tickets to women candidates on only eight seats. The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP)’s list of 90 candidates includes 10 women.
47 women have been elected since 2000
According to Haryana Assembly records, a total of 47 women have been elected MLAs in the state in the five assembly elections held since 2000. The state is notorious for its skewed gender ratio, with 916 girls per 1,000 boys in 2023. In the 2019 elections, 104 women candidates were in the fray, including independent candidates. In the 2014 elections, the highest number of 116 women candidates were in the fray, of which 13 won. In the 2019 elections, this number came down to nine. Voting for the 90-member Haryana Assembly will be held on October 5. The results will be declared on October 8.
These are the main female candidates.
This time, Arti Singh Rao, daughter of Union Minister Rao Indrajit Singh, is also in the fray and is contesting for the first time on a BJP ticket. Shruti Chaudhary, granddaughter of former Chief Minister Bansi Lal, who joined the BJP from Congress earlier this year, is contesting from Tosham. Four-time Congress MLA and former state education minister Geeta Bhukkal said that the Congress has fielded the highest number of women candidates compared to other parties. She said, “The bill allowing 33 percent reservation to women in Parliament and state assemblies has been passed, but it will be implemented in 2029, which is a joke on women.” Bhukkal is contesting from Jhajjar.
Eyes are also on Vinesh Phogat.
Wrestler Vinesh Phogat is contesting from the Congress in Julana in the Jind district. Phogat, who became the face of anti-sexual harassment protests, retired from the sport after missing out on a gold medal campaign at the Paris 2024 Olympics. Phogat is pitted against AAP’s Kavita Dalal, the first Indian female wrestler to compete in WWE. The most talked about face of the election is Asia’s richest woman and chairperson of the OP Jindal Group, Savitri Jindal (74). Jindal was expected to get a ticket from the BJP, but she is contesting as an independent. She is contesting against Haryana minister and sitting Hisar MLA Kamal Gupta.
The former CM’s daughter is also an independent candidate.
Chitra Sarwara, daughter of Nirmal Singh, a confidant of former Chief Minister Bhupendra Singh Hooda, is contesting as an independent candidate from Ambala Cantonment seat after not getting a ticket from Congress. She is pitted against Anil Vij of BJP and Parvinder Singh Pari of Congress. AAP’s Rabia Kidwai is the first woman candidate from the Muslim-dominated constituency of Nuh.
