NIZAMABAD: While the state government has provided 50 per cent reservations for women in local bodies, major political parties have denied tickets to women in the present general elections.
Nizamabad district is recognised as a women’s bastion in Andhra Pradesh as it has the highest population of women as well as voters. However, political parties seem to have overlooked the factor.
Other than his daughter Ms Kavitha, who will contest the Nizamabad Lok Sabha seat, TRS chief Mr K. Chandrasekhar Rao has not fielded a single woman in the nine Assembly constituencies in the district.
The Congress too has denied tickets to women leaders in the party. Former MLAs, Mahila Congress state and district presidents Akula Lalitha and T. Aruna Tara had hoped that one or both would get MLA tickets for the Nizamabad Urban and Jukkal Assembly constituencies respectively. However, internal politics and lobbying of senior leaders adversely affected the chances of women leaders in the Congress.
In Telugu Desam, sitting Armoor MLA, A. Annapurna preferred to promote her son, doctor-turned-politician A. Mallikharjun Reddy as the MLA candidate from Balkonda Assembly constituency.
Reportedly, TD supremo Chandrababu Naidu is not giving two MLA tickets to one family. OU JAC leader Rajaram Yadav got the TD ticket from Armoor and Ms Annapurna is busy campaigning for her son in the neighboring constituency.
The CPM had initially fielded Ms Sabbani Latha and Ms Noorjahan as MLA candidates for Nizamabad Urban and Banswada Assembly constituencies but later directed the duo to withdraw from the contest, extending solidarity to the TRS. As a result, there are no women candidates from major political parties running for MLA in the district.
Ms T. Aruna Tara, Congress rebel candidate from Jukkal (SC) Assembly constituency, said “Being a Mahila Congress district president, I had hoped that I would have got the MLA’s ticket,” she said. But the party has ignored it.
