Himachal Pradesh: Parties shy away from fielding woman candidates

SHIMLA

: Despite having almost equal vote share among the male and female voters in

Himachal Pradesh

, neither Congress nor the BJP has fielded women candidates in the state for the upcoming

Lok Sabha elections

.


Of the 51.59 lakh voters, the male voters' strength in the state is 26,45,584 while female voters are 25,13,357.

Interestingly, the Congress, in its election manifesto, promised 33% reservation to women in parliamentary and assembly elections, while BJP launched its campaign to win the election with the help of “Matri Shakti” (women power).

Post independence, only three woman have managed to reach Lok Sabha from Himachal Pradesh - Rajkumari Amrit Kaur, Chandresh Kumari and Pratibha Singh. Amrit Kaur was elected from Mandi-Mahasu seat in 1951 and had become minister at the Centre.

Chandresh Kumari, who had won from Kangra seat in 1984 and became Union minister of state. She later contested from Jodhpur in Rajasthan in 2009.

Pratibha Singh had first won from Mandi parliamentary seat in 2004 and then again in 2013 bye-poll. She was again fielded from the same seat in 2014 but she lost the election.

Noteworthy, not even a single woman candidate so far has represented Shimla (SC) and Hamirpur parliamentary seats.