BJP may field no woman this LS poll in State

Only woman aspirant in the party, Shobha may not get ticket

The State BJP may draw a blank when it comes to giving tickets to women candidates for the forthcoming Lok Sabha polls.

The only woman aspirant Shobha Karandlaje on Monday reiterated that she is not willing to contest from any other constituency than Bangalore North. However, sources said the party leadership is unlikely to heed her demand as the fight for candidature in Bangalore North has boiled down to former chief minister D V Sadananda Gowda and former deputy chief minister R Ashoka.

The BJP has been reserving 33 per cent of its seats for women for organisational posts, but has not been following the same norm during Assembly and Lok Sabha elections. In 2009, J Shantha was the lone woman to be given ticket by the BJP to contest the polls. She won from the Bellary Lok Sabha constituency.

Speaking to reporters, BJP Mahila Morcha State president Shashikala Jolle, MLA, said that women candidates should be given preference and they did not lack winnability factor.She said the Mahila Morcha had sought more tickets from the central and State leadership for women in the Lok Sabha polls. 

When it was pointed out that the candidate selection process had almost been completed, Jolle expressed confidence that more representation would be given to women when the party releases its final list. The morcha held its executive committee meeting on Monday.