Kerala women activists launch novel campaign against neglect

TRIVANDRUM — Women activists in Kerala have called on voters to use Nota (none of the above) option in the ballot paper during the assembly polls on May 16 to register protest against the poor representation to the women in the state legislature.

A group of activists have launched an online campaign to canvas votes for Nota. The group called ‘Women’s Collective for Gender Justice’ has also planned to conduct rallies in major centres in the state.

A statement issued by the collective said they were forced to register their protests in this manner as none of the parties had paid any heed to their plea for giving equal representation to the women. Though women outnumbered men in the electorate, they seldom got more than 6 per cent representation in the assembly.

“The women representation in the first legislative assembly that was elected in 1957 was six (4.7 per cent). The number in the outgoing 13th legislative assembly is seven (5 per cent). This is a clear indication that none of the parties were ready share power with women,” said M. Sulfath, an activist supporting the group.

“The male-dominated political parties are deliberately trying to keep the women away from power. Though the women outnumber men in population and constitute around 70 per cent of the electorate in Kerala, their representation in the assembly was always below 6 per cent,” Sulfath said.

She said it was meaningless to wait for the parties to give women their due. They should come forward to claim their rights. The collective has, therefore, urged the voters especially women to cast their votes for Nota in constituencies where there are no women candidates.

The total number of women candidates fielded by the three major political combinations in the current election is 37. The Communist Party of India (Marxist)-led Left Democratic Front have fielded the maximum number of 17 women candidates this time.

Only eight women candidates figure in the Congress-led ruling United Democratic Front (UDF) while the list of the Bharatiya Janata Party-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA) contains 12 women. Not a single women figure in the 57 seats allotted to its allies, including the Indian Union Muslim League (IUML) and the Kerala Congress (M).

The women activists say most of the seats given to the women are with little winning chance. The results of the past elections show that more than 60 per cent of the women fielded by major parties had lost the election.

The representation of women in the ministries has also been very poor. None of the ministries since 1957 had more than one women minister. Two ministries had no women participation at all. This is despite more than 50 per cent women governing the local bodies in the state.