Pati, patni aur woe: Twice bitten not shy

Dashrath Devda, who heads an organization of "harassed husbands" has jumped into the poll fray, filing his nomination on Tuesday as an independent candidate for the forthcoming general election from the Ahmedabad East seat. Devda says he is contesting to represent men who have been victimized by their wives and will strive to change domestic violence laws that he claims are biased against men.


Interestingly, he contested the 2014 general election and the 2017 assembly election and ended up losing his deposit on both occasions. He had filed his nomination for the Ahmedabad Municipal Corporation election in 2015, but his form was rejected.

The 55-year-old Devda heads the Ahmedabad-based Akhil Bharatiya Patni Atyachar Virodhi Sangh. He says that victimised husbands persuaded him to contest the election. "If I win, my sole agenda will be to work for equal rights of men and women," he said. "Sections of the

Indian Penal Code

, the Domestic Violence Act, and the Code of Criminal Procedure are heavily biased against men. Why cannot there be a commission for men when there is a women’s commission?"

Devda polled fewer than 3,000 votes in the 2014 general election when he contested from the Ahmedabad East seat. He got 400 votes in the 2017 assembly election when he contested from the

Naroda

seat. The organization claims to have 60,000 members. "Yes, I lost my deposit on both occasions," he said. "That is because we do not have the money to spend on elections as other parties do. But I will continue to fight for the rights of men who have been victimized."