Expensive polls keeping women away from politics: BJP MLA

Hiriyur BJP MLA K Poornima said on Wednesday that “exorbitant elections” were one of the main reasons keeping women away from politics.

"The money involved in elections of late is so much that women candidates can't afford it,” Poornima said in the Assembly during a special debate on electoral reforms.

“Typically, the men in the house fund the woman candidate. When they have to spend so much on the candidate, the men usually decide that they would rather contest the election themselves," she pointed out, calling for reforms to put an end to corrupt practices in elections.

Karnataka has 10 women MLAs, of which three are from the BJP in the 224-member Assembly. There are three women MLCs in the 75-member Legislative Council.

JD(S) legislature party leader H D Kumaraswamy said tens of crores of rupees are being spent on elections. “Even gram panchayat elections have become expensive where candidates are spending in crores,” the former chief minister said.

Kumarswamy said candidates in recent years were spending more than Rs 1 crore for panchayats with hardly 500-600 votes. "Meanwhile, even MLCs are spending Rs 25-30 crore. How will they get back this money? Imagine the amount needed for Assembly elections," Kumaraswamy said.

There are Zilla Panchayat and APMC elections for which parties have to chip in money, he added, illustrating how expensive the election process has become of late.

"Election regulations are also inadequate. The regulation prescribes a penalty of up to Rs 2,000 for those creating a disturbance in elections and up to 6 months jail term for violating norms. No one has been convicted until now," Kumaraswamy said.

He also cautioned the media about its role in upholding democratic values. "The media has become the opinion-maker and they make or break the images of politicians," he said.

"Today, the media has become the judge, jury and the executioner. To raise TRPs, television channels are causing a rift in the society," he added.

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