GAJENDRA SINGH NEGI/ Dehradun
The one day special session of Uttarakhand Vidhan Sabha held on April 28 to discuss the issue of women reservation in the legislative bodies has triggered a debate in Uttarakhand. The role of both the major political parties, the Congress and BJP for being stingy in giving tickets to the women in the Vidhan Sabha and Lok Sabha elections is also coming under public scrutiny. The political parties look at the winability factor in giving tickets to women candidates and end up giving the majority of tickets to men. In such a situation, representation of women in the Vidhan Sabha in Uttarakhand has always been less. In the Vidhan Sabha elections of 2022, only eight women MLAs were elected in the house of 70.
It is interesting to note that Yamkeshwar and Kedarnath are two assembly constituencies in the State which have a tradition of favouring women candidates in the elections. In fact, the Yamkeshwar Vidhan Sabha holds the unique distinction of sending only women representatives in the Vidhan Sabha in all the elections held so far in the State. In the first VS elections held in the year 2002, Vijay Barthwal of BJP got elected from Yamkeshwar. She followed it up with emphatic victories in the elections of 2007 and 2012 from Yamkeshwar. In the VS elections of 2017, BJP gave its ticket to Ritu Khanduri and the people of Yameshwar made her victorious. In 2022, Renu Bisht of BJP was elected from the constituency.
Similarly, the people of Kedarnath assembly constituency have also consistently reposed their faith in the women candidate. In the first VS elections held in the year 2002, Asha Nautiyal of BJP had defeated Shaila Rani Rawat of Congress party. Nautiyal was again elected in 2007, this time she defeated Kunwar Singh Negi of Congress party. In the year 2012, Shaila Rani Rawat of Congress party was elected from Kedarnath Vidhan Sabha. For the first time a male candidate was elected from Kedarnath in 2017 when Manoj Rawat of Congress defeated independent candidate Kuldeep Rawat from the constituency. Asha Nauityal and Shaila Rani Rawat secured third and fourth positions respectively. In 2022, Shaila Rani was declared elected from the constituency and after her death Asha Nautiyal was elected from Kedarnath in the by-election.
