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BMC elections: Where are women campaigners?

Despite having been allotted a 50% share in local bodies, women leaders are difficult to come by, with political parties managing to put together only a handful of women star campaigners.

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Despite having been allotted a 50% share in local bodies, women leaders are difficult to come by, with political parties managing to put together only a handful of women star campaigners in the civic and district council polls in February.

So far, the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP), Shiv Sena, Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS) and Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) have declared their list of star campaigners, which includes women — Neelam Gorhe from Sena, Suryakanta Patil, Supriya Sule, Fauzia Khan and Vidya Chavan from NCP and Shilpa Sarpotdar, Shalini Thackeray and Reeta Gupta from MNS.

As per the election commission norms, a party can declare 20 names as star campaigners to get permission to travel in poll bound areas.

While the state government had last April approved 50% quota for women in local bodies, political parties have redefined the ratio, saying that usually senior leaders are named star campaigners.

“We have the star campaigners as per the organisational structure. It has nothing to do with the 50% women’s reservation,” said Anil Desai, Sena secretary.

While NCP general secretary Prakash Binsale said the finalising of star campaigners had not been done on the basis of gender, “as we have given the names of senior leaders”, Nitin Sardesai of the MNS echoed a similar opinion. “These are two different things,” said Sardesai.

Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and Congress are yet to release the list of their star campaigners, even as BJP state president Vinod Tawade admitted as having chosen state-level leaders for the job.

“There is no co-relation between women’s quota and star campaigners,” he said.

Admitting that it would take some time before women get an equal share political organisations, political observers like journalist Abhay Mokashe said: “In a male dominated society, women have always been kept away from decision-making. Parties need to accept them as leaders, as their multi-tasking skills will help them and the society to a great extent.”

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