Women leaders as entities yet to emerge in political arena

Gautam Vohra

Women leadership, in the social field, it can be said without equivocation, has emerged. In fact, it is there to stay, as is evident from the host of women organisations in the urban areas, as well as rural, that have been vigorously championing the cause.

In the political arena, however, women leaders as entities in their own right have yet to emerge. With exceptions, most are content to play second fiddle to men. Those that have a standing of their own invariably belong to the dominant political families of the area.

Several women do get elected to state legislatures and Parliament. But such women invariably are members of influential families, or enjoy the backing of a powerful political entity at the Centre or the state. Few women leaders have grassroots support of their constituents.

It is not as though political parties do not attempt to woo women voters, or offer them a place in political life. A glance at their manifestoes produced for the general elections is bound to dispel any doubts on this score. Among the issues related to women listed in those of the major political parties/groupings, the Congress, the National Front, the BJP and the CPI (M) are:

• Creation of a maternity fund
• Ban on sex-determination tests
• 30 per cent reservation for women in government jobs
• Bride burning and dowry deaths to be treated as an attempt to murder
• Provision of public toilets and smokeless chulhas in villages
• More hostels for single women in cities
• Women to be made joint owners of house and land
• Women to be made a co-sharer in the husband’s wealth and income

Whatever discrimination the women face, the political parties are in theory more than willing to put an end to it. While this process cannot but be a lengthy and arduous one, the women have taken a step forward on the road towards the acquisition of political power; and that is greater participation in the political process through the exercise of their right to vote.

During the first few elections, large sections of women, particularly in the rural areas, did not so much as get registered as voters. Over the years they learnt the importance of giving their names correctly and double-checking to ensure that they were listed on the voters list. This entitled them to vote and gradually more of them began to do so....

The increase in the number of women voters is one thing. And their acquiring political power to tackle issues that are of concern to them, quite another. Here it may be instructive to get the views and perceptions on this issue of those men who have been elected to the Vidhan Sabha (of Maharashtra in 1990) and the Parliament, some of whom have risen up the political ladder from grassroot political institutions....

Since then elections to panchayats with one-third reservations of women, as per the 73rd constitutional amendment, have been held in several states. While no survey results indicating whether selecting women candidates was difficult have been published, it will be a surprise if women panchayat members
get their way in the panchayats dominated by men whose attitudes have not changed. Even where all women panchayats have existed, only a few have been able to make a mark; the others have continued to be under the sway of men.

The views of some other MLAs, including those of the BJP MLA Premkumar Sharma, cannot be substantiated. But those of R A Deshmukh seem to bear scrutiny.

R A Deshmukh makes three points about rural women:

• The vote of the woman will go the way determined by the head of the family;
• A woman will participate in politics if her husband supports her;
• As politics requires funds, those who venture into it must have funds, or their families must have it.
• A working class woman struggling to make both ends meet cannot aspire for political office.
  

While Babasahib Patil claims that rural women are not allowed to participate in politics because of traditions, samajik parampara, Shivajirao Deshmukh maintains that unless the men “encourage” them to take part in social work, they are not likely to give up their traditional roles and go in for politics as they did during the freedom movement.

By “encourage” Deshmukh means creating conditions so that women would want to take up work for the community, conditions that Gandhi created and got so many women to participate in the fight for independence.

Candidates who have taken steps to woo women have found that they are willing not only to vote but campaign for them as well. Jayant R. patil (in his twenties) says that the younger women helped him to victory, and to his surprise as many as 450 women went on his behalf from village to village to gain support for him (during the 1990 Vidhan Sabha elections).

This was essentially a result of the measures he had taken to benefit them:

• Set up a women’s college in Islampur (the main city in Walva constituency, Sangli district)
• Organised pat sanstha which has enabled women to secure loans to purchase sewing machines (as has Murli Deora). It has a 2,000 strong membership.
• Installed the Gyan Prabodini meant for the poorer sections of the community; the mahila mandals bring their problems to it for support and guidance.

(Extracted from the book “The New Political Elite—Grassroots Leadership” by Gautam Vohra)