New Delhi: For this year’s general election, Karnataka has seen a 48 percent jump in the number of women candidates fielded by all political parties, with the number increasing to 40 from the previous 27 in 2019. However, historical data shows this might not be a winning strategy, with voters overwhelmingly preferring males.
In a state which has conventionally achieved a good sex ratio — currently 997 females per 1,000 males — women still have it tough when it comes to politics.
In the second phase held on 26 April, 14 of the state’s 28 seats went to polls. The remaining 14 are slated for voting in the third phase on 7 May.
ThePrint’s analysis of historical data for 33 years across Parliamentary as well as assembly elections sourced from the Election Commission of India (ECI) and Ashoka University’s Lok Dhaba shows that though the state has seen an increased number of female candidates through these years, these nominations have hardly converted into wins.
This year, at six, the Congress has fielded the highest number of women candidates in the state, followed by Socialist Unity Centre of India (Communist) (SUCI) with five candidates for the state’s 28 Lok Sabha seats. BJP, meanwhile, has fielded only two.
A majority of the contesting women — 21 of the 40 — are Independents.
The historical data shows that, of the 3,749 candidates fielded over the past 33 years, 223 were women. Compared to the 3,358 males who won the elections in the last three decades, the number of winning females was just 14 — essentially, just 6 percent of the women candidates have won their respective elections.
In the 2019 Parliamentary elections, just two of 27 women candidates managed to win from their constituencies. Similarly, in 2014, only one out of 20 candidates saw success.
A similar situation is seen at the Assembly level as well.
In the 2018 Karnataka Assembly elections, only seven out of 224 MLAs were women — a mere 3.1 percent. In May 2023, this number went up to 10 (making up 4.5 percent). That year, 185 women candidates were in the fray.
The year which saw the highest number of women candidates fielded for Lok Sabha elections was 1996 — 71. Apart from 1996, the number of women candidates from 1991 till 2014 has always been 20 or below.
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Why women candidates aren’t popular
The dearth of prominent, mainstream women political figures in Karnataka, as opposed to nearby Tamil Nadu, Kerala, and Andhra Pradesh, is one factor contributing to the low presence of women in politics in the state. Political experts claim that women are increasingly being alienated from the polls process.
“Men have an upper hand over women because of financial stability,” said Narendra Pani, professor at the National Institute of Advanced Studies. “As the patriarchal mindset goes, men are generally considered to head businesses and be good with money. But that’s not true.”
But what stands as a bigger reason is the state’s mindset over political inheritance. According to Pani, parties and even people favour leaders who belong to a political family.
“The voters tend to attach a sense of trust to the family name. Women are preferred less over men because of a patriarchal mindset, and they are given preference in the family only when there is no male contender with similar interests,” Pani said.
Karnataka State Congress Committee general secretary Kavitha Reddy agrees that there is an underlying discrimination. She outlines that out of 109 women candidates who applied for a party ticket for this year’s Lok Sabha elections, only 40 managed to get one.
“Political parties see women candidates as inferior to men. They often view women as feminine and therefore people who can’t fight strongly on the ground and have limitations of time,” Reddy added.
She also spoke of personal experience of facing discrimination within her own party.
“Inheritance and your surname are more important than merit,” Reddy added.
Following the 1995 implementation of the reservation policy for women in local governments, V. Vijayalakshmi, a researcher at the Institute of Social and Economic Change in Bengaluru, conducted an examination of women’s engagement in politics in Karnataka in 2002. The low numbers were linked to women’s low interest as a result of their “marginalisation”, according to its report, ‘Gender Accountability and Political Representation in Local Government.’
The study concluded that women’s marginal engagement in political parties and civil society as a whole was the source of their alienation.
Identity & political affiliation key
Focusing on the caste aspect, Pani said that even among women, identity politics was a key player when it came to giving party tickets. “Identity has always been a sensitive topic and political parties try to aggregate it during the elections. So, any kind of identity, be it caste, class, religion, voters take all of these into account while choosing a leader.”
He further added that Independent candidates, like in other states, do not enjoy much love from the people. They are often overshadowed by political parties or big leaders from political families.
Over the past 33 years, only one Independent has won from the state. It was in 2019, when Sumalatha Ambareesh registered a victory from the Mandya constituency.
Reddy, who has been associated with the Congress for more than a decade, said that women candidates who manage to reach the top often have the same patriarchal mindset they are a victim of. Even at the local grassroot level, the face of leadership might be a woman but the person taking the decisions ends up being a male member.
“Winnability is a very stupid reason that political parties associate with women leaders. It is the voters who decide the winnability of a candidate, but how are they going to do it when the visibility of women leaders is so less?” Reddy added
She said women are subjected to sexist remarks and personal attacks when they stand Independently against men. “There is cat-calling, character assassination and women are intimidated by it. This is also a reason why women are so hesitant to even enter politics. Only the strong and resilient ones can survive in this political game.”
(Edited by Zinnia Ray Chaudhuri)
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