Kerala: More women now in assembly

CPPR Chairman Dr D Dhanuraj comments in news article published in The Times of India. He comments “More than other parties, Left has groomed its women leaders from grassroot level. Since the present government has already announced much of its welfare programmes which is expected to continue, one can expect something for the women voters from the new government,”

Poor women representation in main political parties was a much-discussed issue in this election. The new assembly will have 11 women MLAs led by health minister K K Shailaja.

For the first time since 1996 when there were 13 women MLAs, Kerala’s legislature will have a double-digit woman representation in the state in the assembly. This time there will be 10 ruling-party MLAs and one lone woman in the opposition, UDF-backed RMP’s K K Rema.
The winners include O S Ambika – Attingal, Veena George – Aranmula, CK Asha – Vaikom, J Chinchurani – Chadayamangalam, Daleema Jojo – Aroor, U Prathibha – Kayamkulam, R Bindu – Irinjalakuda, K Shantakumari – Kongad and Jameela Kanathil – Koyilandy.

Interestingly, of the 103 women who contested, 17 women candidates came as runner-up, indicating that the LDF wave led to their losses and they were closely-fought wins in many constituencies. Among the big losers are Shanimol Usman, Bindu Krishna, Shoba Surendran, P K Jayalakshmi and Padmaja Venugopal who kept the fight close.
It is expected that there would be 2-3 women ministers. Shailaja has already proved her mettle. C K Asha and Veena George could be the other two candidates.

While there is not likely to be a sea change in women-centric policies of the LDF government, it is expected that Pinarayi Vijayan will give adequate importance to this voter segment who have voted for the front in large numbers.

“More than other parties, Left has groomed its women leaders from grassroot level. Since the present government has already announced much of its welfare programmes which is expected to continue, one can expect something for the women voters from the new government,” opined D Dhanuraj, chairman-CPPR.

This news article was published in The Times of India on May 3, 2021. Click here to read