Cong hard up for women poll nominees

The increase in reservation for women in the Zilla and Taluk Panchayats has led to an intense competition among women seeking nominations from the BJP and the JD(S), but with no women leaders capable of contesting TP seats, the Congress is in a fix.

Election to the 57 ZP and 212 TP seats will be held in the first phase on December 26. For the seats not reserved for women, the competition has been vigorous in all the three main political formations, and all the three parties are worried about rebellion by those deprived of ticket.

While the Congress is not hard up for candidates for the ZP, it is worried about being unable to find women candidates for the TP seats, particularly for seats reserved for Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes.

All three parties have to find 106 candidates each for the TP.

“With difficulty if we find a candidate, within a few hours, she backs out. How do we find more than 100 women candidates? I am at my wit’s end,” laments a Congress manager.

But the BJP is in high spirits. “We have two to three women vying for tthe party ticket in each constituency. This is the result of our organisation drive in the recent past,” says district BJP president S Shivaprasad.

Situation is no different in Kunigal where 12 Taluk Panchayat seats and two Zilla Panchayat seats are reserved for women of different category.

Though there are around 69,000 women voters, none have volunteered to file nomination papers so far.

Madikehalli, Herur, Santemavattur, Yaliyur, Kempanahalli, D Hosahalli, Huliyurdurga, Ujjani, Yadavani, Amritur, Koppa and Kaggere Taluk Panchayat constituencies and Huliyurdurga and Begur Zilla Panchayat constituencies are reserved for women candidates.

Some of the political leaders in these constituencies are cajoling or forcing women of their families to contest. Women candidates, during the campaign are introduced by the identities of their male relatives and names of these women candidates are also not familiar in many instances.

The Congress and BJP women wings at the taluk level clamour only at the time of polls and recede to oblivion soon after the elections.

JD(S) doesn’t have any women’s wing in the taluk.

Taluk Panchayat former president Leelavati and advocate Gayatriraju attribute the absence of women political leaders to lack of political awareness.