Congress, Akalis ignore women in alloting tickets

Chandigarh, Jan 19 (UNI) In a state where the incidence of female foeticide is the highest in the country, political parties including the two main, the ruling Congress and the Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) have ignored the claims of women contestants.

While the Congress has fielded ten women contestants, SAD has fielded just five for the 117 assembly seats where polling will be held on February 13. No woman has far found a place in the list of 15 candidates of the 23 released by the BJP, an electoral ally of SAD.

The Congress had announced the name of seven candidates in its first list on Wednesday night and another three were added to the list yesterday. The ruling party is yet to announce the name of its candidates for three seats, but none of the aspirants are women.

The Left parties--CPM and CPI have not named a single woman in its first list of 45 candidates. The Lok Bhalai Party of Balwant Singh Ramoowalia, an electoral ally of the Left has also not named any woman in its first list of 12 nominees for the February 13 polls.

The five women in the SAD list are former Shiromani Gurdwara Prabandik Committee (SGPC) chief Bibi Jagir Kaur from Bholath, former minister Dr Upinderjit Kaur from Sultanpur Lodhi, Mrs Satwinder Kaur Dhaliwal from Amloh (reserve), Mrs Satwant Kaur from Chamkaur Sahib (reserve), and Mrs Mohinder Kaur Josh from Sham Chaurasi (reserve).

Bibi Jagir Kaur, Dr Upinderjit Kaur and Mrs Satwant Kaur, also a former minister are all sitting MLAs, while Mrs Dhaliwal had lost the last polls and Mrs Josh who had contestant as an independent after being denied the SAD ticket in 2002, too had lost by a narrow in the last polls from Sham Chaurasi, the seat she won for the first time in 1997 and went onto become a minister.

The high profile Bibi is perhaps the most controversial women contestant in Punjab, who is facing trial in her own daughters murder case which was probed by the CBI. Bibi Jagir Kaur's tenure in the SGPC was also dogged by controversies, the major one being her refusal to recognise the Pakistan Sikh Gurdwara Prabandik Committee (PSGPC) and stopping SGPC sponsored 'jathas' to the Sikh shrines across the country.

The only woman to head the SGPC, the Bibi belongs to the Lubana community which has a sizeable electorate in the Bholath assembly segment which she won in 1997 and 2002. The Bibi's first foray into politics was through the SAD (Amritsar), but later she switched sides and joined hands with SAD chief Prakash singh Badal.

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