Despite the share of women in the voters’ list being almost at par with men in Jammu and Kashmir, political parties across the spectrum failed this time when it comes to fielding female candidates in the assembly elections that began in the union territory on Wednesday. Of every 100 candidates contesting the polls, just five are women, and half of them are fighting independently.
Tuesday was the last date for the withdrawal of candidature for the third and final phase of the polls. On Wednesday, the numbers of contesting candidates were issued by the Election Commission of India.
A total of 873 candidates, including 40 women, are contesting in the assembly elections being held in J&K after almost a decade. In the three-phase polling, that started on Wednesday, the highest number of women candidates, 25, are in the third phase, which will be held on October 1.
Of the 40 women in the fray, 20 are from various political parties and 20 are contesting independently. In addition to these, the candidatures of 18 women were rejected, which usually happens if the documents submitted are incorrect or incomplete.
The J&K assembly polls are being held in three phases – for 24 seats on September 18, 26 seats on September 25, and 40 seats on October 1. There are 219, 239, and 441 candidates, respectively, in each phase.
Nine women contested in the first phase, while in the second phase, to be held on September 25, there will be just six women.
In 2014 – the last time the erstwhile state went to polls – there were 803 candidates in the fray including 28 women. The total number of women nominees has improved this time, but it remains low among the total candidates. In 2014, there were just seven independent women aspirants in the fray while this time the number has gone up to 20.
Last year, Parliament passed the women’s reservation bill that paved the way for 33% reservation for women in assemblies and the Lok Sabha. It has not been implemented so far. Almost all the political parties supported the idea of women’s reservation but hardly met the 33% criteria while distributing tickets.
Jammu and Kashmir has 88.03 lakh voters, and almost half of these, 43.13 lakh, are women. Yet politics remains male-dominated in the union territory. In 2014, just two MLAs were women. Later, when Mehbooba Mufti became the chief minister after her father died, she contested and won from the Anantnag.
The results to be announced on October 8 will reveal the fate of these 40 women in the fray.
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