Despite tall claims by both Congress and BJP to facilitate more representation of women in politics, the list released by them in Rajasthan for the upcoming polls paints a different picture. The Congress has fielded only 27 women in a candidate list of 195, while the BJP's number stands at 23 out of 200.

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The irony is starker as the saffron party has a member of the 'minority' sex at the helm of affairs in the state.

During his rallies in the state, Congress president Rahul Gandhi had stressed upon betting on women candidates in the poll battle. He even said the party would grant half of the chief ministers' seats, in states under its governance, to women.

However, women comprise only 14 per cent of his party's list. Some of the prominent faces are Archana Sharma (Malviya Nagar), Divya Maderna (Osian), Ranju Ramawat (Surerpur), Krishna Punia (Sadulpur), Rita Choudhary (Mandawa), Shakuntala Rawat (Bansur), Naseem Akhtar Insaf (Pushkar) and Girija Vyas (Udaipur).

The ruling BJP had decided at the party level that at least one woman candidate would be given a ticket from each district – which should have tallied with the state's 33 districts. However, women form only 11.5 per cent of its poll rolls.

In the list of prominent faces, Chief Minister Vasundhara Raje leads the pack contesting from Jhalrapatan, followed by Golma Devi (Sapotara), Kiran Maheshwari (Rajsamand), Surya Kanta Vyas (Sursagar), Anita Bhadel (Ajmer South), Ritu Banawat (Bayana), Krishnendra Kaur (Nadbai), Sidhi Kumari (Bikaner East), Kalpana Singh (Ladpura) and Mamta Sharma (Piplda).

In 2008, when Raje completed her first tenure as the chief minister, the BJP had fielded 32 women candidates out of 193 – 16 per cent of the entire list. Congress had allotted tickets to only 23 women, 9 less than BJP and almost 11 per cent of 200 candidates fielded.

When the results were announced, the BJP was voted out and its candidate reached to 78, of which 15 were women. The Congress managed to secure 96 seats, with 10 women in power, and formed the government with the support of BSP MLAs.

In next election held in 2013, the Congress did not increase its women representation. The party gave tickets to 24 women, while BJP maintained the edge by giving them 26 seats.

The saffron women registered victory on 22 out of 22 seats, whereas Congress just won a single seat, which went to Shakuntala Rawat from Bansur.

FRESH FACES

  • BJP fielded 60 new faces, among them are minister Nandlal Meena’s son Hemant and Jaswant Yadav’s son Mohit  
  • Congress has brought in 68 new candidates, the chief among them being Pradesh Congress Committee chief Sachin Pilot and newly minted Harish Meena