No room for women: AAP's hypocrisy and the Delhi cabinet

New Delhi, Feb 19: Despite the fact that Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) swept the Delhi polls 2020 because of women power, Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal's new cabinet does not have a single woman.

Everyone wondered why there was no woman in the new cabinet despite the fact that the party has no dearth of deserving candidates.

In 2020, eight women candidates have won the elections, as compared to six in 2015, all from AAP.

Atishi Marlena, Rakhi Birla, Raj Kumari Dhillon, Preeti Tomar, Dhanwati Chandela, Parmila Tokas, Bhavna Gaur and Bandana Kumari emerged victorious in the 2020 Assembly polls.

Campaign focused on freebies for women

The AAP campaign had also had put the spotlight on women's issues- free bus rides for women, safety etc.

Even on election day, Kejriwal tried to woo women voters of Delhi, asking them to go out to vote in droves and even sparred with Union Minister Smriti Irani who called him out for asking women to "consult with men" before voting.

Surveys credit women for big win

According to the CSDS post-poll survey, 60% of women voted for AAP whereas only 35% women preferred the BJP. While, men voters were almost evenly divided between AAP and BJP.

The Axis My India Exit Poll also reaffirmed that 53% men chose AAP then 59% women preferred AAP. This data underlines the fact that female voters have a special fascination for Kejriwal or AAP.

The number game

The AAP, BJP and the Congress, which are the three prominent parties had fielded a total of 24 women candidates, with the Congress having a maximum of 10.

While the Aam Aadmi Party had fielded nine women candidates, BJP had given tickets to only five.

The election, which was largely seen as a battle between the AAP and the BJP witnessed 593 men and 79 women. In 2015 Delhi election, 66 women were in the fray with the Aam Aadmi Party. On the other side, BJP and Congress opted for 19.

Only four women cabinet ministers since 1993

It is important to note that there have been only four female cabinet ministers in the city since 1993.

Among the four, Kiran Walia (2008-13) has completed her term in office, while BJP's Purnima Sethi (1998), the Congress party's Krishna Tirath (1998-2001) and AAP's Rakhi Birla (2013-14), were cabinet ministers for a short period.

How do other states fare

According to the Association for Democratic Reforms (ADR) report, the state with the highest representation of women in the council of ministers is Punjab (20%), followed by Tamil Nadu (13.8%), Andhra Pradesh (11.5%), Uttar Pradesh (11.1%), and Tripura (11.1%). Telangana, Puducherry, Arunachal Pradesh, Sikkim, Meghalaya, Mizoram, Nagaland and Delhi governments had no women when the council of ministers was sworn in.