The Mizo National Front (MNF) may have unseated the Congress’ 10-year-long rule in Mizoram with promises of change, but one pattern that remains unchanged in the entire electoral process in the state, is the absence of a woman being elected to form the new Assembly.
Out of the 209 candidates who had contested the 2018 elections, which went to polls in a single-phase on 28 November, only 15 were women, PTI reported.
Interestingly, out of these 15 candidates, the BJP, which won only one seat in the elections, had fielded the highest number of women candidates – at six. The Mizo National Front, had not fielded a single woman candidate and said hadn’t found anyone “suitable enough”, reported PTI.
The Congress fielded two women candidates, one of which was Vanlalawmpuii Chawngthu, who is also the daughter of C Chawngkunga, the general secretary of the Mizoram Pradesh Congress Commitee, and is also the second woman to become a minister in Mizoram, after it attained statehood in 1987.
A regional party, Zoram Thar had fielded five women aspirants, PTI reported. Zoram People’s Movement fielded two.
Why Don’t Parties Contest More Women Candidates?
While 15 women candidates may seem like a small number, when compared to a total of 209 candidates contesting the elections, it’s actually an improvement as compared to the previous elections (2008 and 2013) in the state.
As per the Election Commission’s records, in the 2013 state elections, only six women candidates had contested the elections. Out of these six, not only were none elected to join the new Assembly, four of them had their deposits forfeited.
In the electoral sense, a deposit is the sum of money that a candidate is required to pay to an electoral authority, so that he or she can stand for an elected office, such as a seat in a legislature. If the candidate gets a certain share of votes, their deposit is repaid. If he or she does not, then the deposit is forfeited, according to the Election Commission.
Out of the six candidates that had been fielded in the 2013 elections, the BJP had fielded three, and the MNF, Congress and an independent party had each fielded one.
In 2008, nine women contested out of the total 197 candidates in the elections, where yet again, none were elected to the Assembly, and six had forfeited deposits.
Out of this, the BJP fielded two women candidates, the Congress and MNF fielded one each and the rest were all fielded by regional parties.
Less Representation For a State With More Women Voters
When asked for the reason behind why the contesting parties in Mizoram have historically not fielded even half as many women candidates as per their male counterparts, BJP President J V Hluna had told PTI that it was a common belief that Mizo women weren’t “traditionally interested in politics”.
In a less-direct approach, MNF Chief Zoramthanga, who is slated to be sworn in as the new Mizoram Chief Minister, said to PTI:
“We fielded women candidates in 1987 and we had even a woman minister. But later in our women wing, we don’t have suitable candidate.”
But why is this? According to R Lalawmpuii, an assistant professor of the Regional Institute of Paramedical and Nursing Sciences (RIPANS), due to the same existing mindset in the state, women in Mizoram had never thought about the issue seriously as it was a taken that politics was for men, exclusively.
Speaking to PTI, she said: “While voting, absence of women candidate will not cross my mind.”
However, Lalawmpuii and other young woman in the state, wish for a change in this trend, so that women could gain greater representation at the electoral levels, so that their issues can be taken up, the report added.
According to the final roll that was published on 27 September 2018, for the Assembly polls, Mizoram recorded a total voter count of 7,68,181 persons, of which 3,74,496 were males and 3,93,685 were women.
Considering the majority of women voters in the state, doesn’t the idea that not even one woman candidate was able to make it to the new Mizoram Assembly, speak volumes about the underrepresentation?
(With inputs from PTI)
(At The Quint, we are answerable only to our audience. Play an active role in shaping our journalism by becoming a member. Because the truth is worth it.)