J&K has 37 lakhs female voters but only one in fray for LS polls

Mainstream parties promised representation, failed to deliver

S.SHEKHAR

JAMMU: Too much sloganeering and huge promises but no implementation on the ground seems to be the hidden policy of almost all the parties as except for People’s Democratic Party (PDP) none has come forward to propose the name of even a single female candidate for the ensuing Lok Sabha elections in Jammu & Kashmir whereas they all talked quite high about representation to women in all the spheres including the democratic setup of the State.

While all the major political parties have declared their candidates on almost all the six Lok Sabha constituencies, the only female candidate in the fray is Mehbooba Mufti, who would be contesting from Anantnag.

“According to the latest survey conducted by the Election Department, there are more than 37 lakhs female voters in Jammu & Kashmir and despite that their representation is not even one percent in the entire State,” said an official of the department while talking to The News Now.

However, except Mehbooba, there is-- and in all probabilities there will be no female candidates for any seat in state.

While BJP has fielded Jugal Kishore Sharma from Jammu-Poonch seat, Dr. Jitendra Singh from Udhampur-Doda, Sofi Yusuf from Anantnag, Mohd Maqbool War from Baramulla and Khalid Jahangir from Srinagar parliamentary constituency, the last name to be announced for Ladakh “would surely be not a woman”, a senior party leader said.

Ironically, it was the BJP which launched a much-hyped Beti Bachao, Beti Padhao (BBBP) scheme quite vigorously in the entire country including Jammu & Kashmir, which was all about protecting and educating the female child.
Same is the case with other mainstream parties like National Conference and Congress, who also don’t have any female candidate to field in the upcoming Lok Sabha elections in the State.
The National Conference and Congress have sealed an alliance for three Lok Sabha seats and decided to go for friendly contests on three other seats.
Congress has declared its nominees for Udhampur-- Vikramdittya Singh and Jammu-- Raman Bhalla, the two constituencies from where both NC and PDP won’t contest.
NC chief Farooq Abdullah will contest from Srinagar fighting with PDP’s Aga Mohsin while Congress won’t field any candidate there.
NC’s Mohd Akbar Lone will be contesting from Baramulla seat in a ‘friendly contest’ with Congress’s Haji Farooq Mir and PDP’s Abdul Qayoom Wani.
Mehbooba would go against NC’s Husnain Masoodi in Anantnag, while Congress’s candidate would not be a woman, party sources indicated to this scribe.
“The only seat for which all the big parties are yet to field candidates is Ladakh, and considering the gender imbalance in that region’s politics, there is next to impossible chances of any female candidates to be in the fray,” an election department official said.
“Besides, Jammu & Kashmir National Panthers Party, which is also claiming its stronghold in the State and announced to contest elections on all the six Lok Sabha seats in the State, has not come out with name of any female candidate and declared names of only male candidates so far,” the ED official added.
Prof. Bhim Singh, will be Panthers Party candidate from Jammu – Poonch constituency, his nephew Harshdev Singh from Udhampur-Doda, Jahangir Ahmed Khan from Baramulla , Abdul Rashid Ganie from Srinagar constituency.
Apart from this, the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) has also announced Tilak Raj Bhagat its candidate from Udhampur-Doda and Badrinath from Jammu-Poonch seat.
It’s worthwhile to mention here that there are only three women, who left their indelible mark in the political history of the State and they were too from Kashmir valley and Ladakh, whereas Jammu region couldn’t have any one till date. The three women are Parvati Devi, who won Lok Sabha elections from Ladakh seat in 1977 while Begam Akhtar Jahan from Anantnag in 1984 and Mehbooba Mufti from same Anantnag constituency in 2004.
Pertinently, March 25, 2019 is the last date for submitting forms for the first phase while for second phase is March 26. While Jammu is going to polls during the first phase on April 11, polling will be held in Udhampur during the second phase on April 18, 2019.