In the first poll after passing women’s bill, Kerala sends all-male squad to Lok Sabha

WOMEN constitute 52 per cent of the population, yet Kerala has elected an all-men squad to represent it in the Lok Sabha.

Woman politicians were decimated in the general election which saw an intense battle for power among the three political fronts led by the Congress, Communist Party of India (Marxist) and the Bharatiya Janata Party

From Shashi Tharoor in Thiruvananthapuram to Rajmohan Unnithan in Kasaragod, male candidates emerged victorious in all 20 constituencies across the state. The absence of woman MPs from Kerala in the 18th Lok Sabha is a topic political parties prefer to brush under the carpet.

In stark contrast, Trinamool Congress chief Mamata Banerjee gave tickets to 12 woman candidates in West Bengal, of which 11 emerged successful this term. With 38 % women MPs, West Bengal emerged as the state with the highest number of women representatives in the 18th Lok Sabha.

According to IndiaSpend, only 73 women were selected from across the country to the Lok Sabha this time. Interestingly, this is the first election after the enactment of the women’s Reservation Act 2023, which aims to reserve 33 per cent seats for women. Under-representation of women in the election has been in the spotlight ever since major fronts announced their candidates.

All the major fronts together allotted only 9 seats (UDF:1, LDF:3 and NDA:5) to women, of which none emerged victorious.

The Congress-led United Democratic Front gave a ticket to a single woman candidate – Remya Haridas in Alathur. However, sources said that the lethargic local Congress leadership did little to ensure the victory of Remya, the sitting MP. “The local Congress leaders were not on good terms with Remya. That reflected in the campaign.

Several Congressmen were said to have opted NOTA over their own candidate,” sources in Alathur said. Psephologist G Gopakumar said that the discontent among Congressmen in Alathur has been reflected in the increased NOTA tally in the constituency.

As many as 12033 votes were given to NOTA in Alathur, an SC-reserved constituency this time. This is the highest for NOTA in terms of numbers in this election in Kerala.

LDF, which gave seats only to three women, is facing criticism over its choice of candidates. In Vadakara, where CPI(M) has been facing strong anti-party sentiments since the 2012 murder of RMP leader TP Chandrashekaran, CPI(M) MLA and former state health minister KK Shailaja faced a humiliating defeat.

Shailaja, a popular politician, had proved her mettle multiple times, including the last Assembly election where she broke all records with over 60k majority. Many opined that Shailaja was made a scapegoat to end the party's jinx in Vadakara post the murder of TP Chandrasekharan. Writer Sara Joseph said that Shailaja, who was a successful politician, should not have been fielded in Vadakara, which still has strong sentiments in favour of the slain TP.

“TP murder is still afresh in the minds of people, especially through the strong political interventions of KK Rema (TP’s wife and Vadakara MLA). It was not her personal defeat, but a wrong political decision.

The same was the case of Annie Raja in Wayanad. When such an enormous victory is expected for Rahul Gandhi in Wayanad, I wonder why CPI fielded a senior leader like Annie Raja. A seasoned politician could have secured more votes than KJ Shine (fielded by the LDF) in Ernakulam,” Joseph said. Joseph said that the seats allotted by political parties were a major factor in the defeat of women candidates.

Though enactment of women’s reservation was a major topic of the campaign, BJP had given tickets only to four women in this general election. The total number of women candidates fielded by NDA, including a BDJS candidate, was five, which was short of the 33 per cent mark it had boasted of in the parliament. However, BJP candidates Shobha Surendran and TN Sarasu have significantly improved the party’s vote share at Alappuzha and Alathur respectively.

Women who scripted success in the past

The disparity is not only in allotting winnable seats, women are rarely given multiple chances or constituencies in general elections in Kerala. This was not the case a few decades ago.

CPI(M) leader Susheela Gopalan had won from Ambalappuzha, Alappuzha and Chirayinkeezhu constituencies in 1967, 1980 and 1991 respectively while Congress leader Savitri Lakshmanan emerged victorious from Mukundapuram constituency in 1989 and 1991.

CPI(M)’s AK Premajam enjoyed consecutive wins from Vadakara in 1998 and 1999. Apart from Remya Haridas, CPI(M) leaders PK Sreemathi (Kannur in 2014 election), P Sathidevi (Vadakara in 2004), CS Sujatah (Mavelikkara in 2004) and CPI leader Bhargavi Thankappan (Adoor in 1971) enjoyed a single term at Lok Sabha.

In 1952, independent candidate Annie Mascrene became the first woman from Kerala to be elected as a Member of Parliament.

Remya Haridas and Bhargavi Thankappan are the only dalit women to be elected to parliament from Kerala.

The presence of Kerala women in the Rajya Sabha paints an even dismal picture. In 2022, when Congress nominated Jebi Mather to Rajya Sabha, it hit headlines as a rare gesture of the party after a long gap of 42 years.

After Congress leaders K Bharati Udaya Bhanu (1954-58 and 1958-64) Devaki Gopidas (1962-68) and Leela Damodara Menon (1974-1980), Congress waited so long to find another woman 'worthy' of sending to the upper house. For LDF, TN Seema (2010-16) was the lone woman representative to Rajya Sabha in the last seven decades.