BackWomen lead the charge as Uttar Pradesh gears up for polls
Fielded against the four-time UP chief minister Mayawati, is three-time Delhi CM Sheila Dikshit and Akhilesh Yadav's wife and MP from Kannauj, Dimple Yadav
Premium
New Delhi: The Congress party’s campaign for the 2017 Uttar Pradesh assembly election will be led by Sheila Dikshit. Jointly heading the ruling Samajwadi Party’s campaign will be Dimple Yadav, wife of chief minister Akhilesh Yadav. And the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) will see Mayawati once again leading the charge. To top it off, there’s a strong buzz that Priyanka Gandhi may step in to help steer the Congress’s ship.
This is the first time that almost all prominent political parties in the state will have a woman as their lead campaigner. This, in a state that has had only two women chief ministers in the past—Mayawati of the BSP and Sucheta Kriplani of the Congress back in 1963-67. As per Election Commission figures, women accounted for 45.27% of Uttar Pradesh’s electorate in the 2014 Lok Sabha election.
Making an early start, Mayawati announced on 24 July that she will hold rallies at Agra and Azamgarh next month to highlight recent atrocities against Dalits. The rallies will also serve to launch her campaign for the elections. The Congress, Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and Samajwadi Party are yet to announce their campaign plans.
Relatively new to politics, Dimple Yadav was first elected to the Lok Sabha in a by-election from Kannauj in 2012. She won from the constituency again in 2014. While her campaigning was limited to her own constituency in 2014, this time around she will play a prominent role in campaigning across the state.
In the past two years, Dimple Yadav has taken the lead in overseeing women and child development initiatives of the state government. From nutrition to sanitation, she has been working closely with the government to ensure the proper implementation of schemes.
“So many women politicians are being brought forward by their parties for the election and she (Dimple Yadav) is our only prominent female face. In this scenario, she will have to come forward and campaign for the party," said Pankhuri Pathak, spokesperson of the Samajwadi Party.
BSP leaders feel that more than the face of a party, what matters to people are the issues the party stands for.
“Mayawati has been working for the state long enough to command a recognition that is unmatched. Any other face won’t be as influential as her. She is fighting on the issues of lawlessness and unemployment in the state unlike the Congress and Samajwadi Party which have no agenda and are roping in their family members for campaigning," said senior BSP leader and Rajya Sabha member Munquad Ali.
The BJP does not have a prominent female face in the state. Interestingly, the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance government at the centre recently inducted Apna Dal MP Anupriya Patel into the cabinet.
The BJP had allied with Apna Dal in the 2014 election in Uttar Pradesh and Patel had won the Mirzapur Lok Sabha seat.
In the past, leaders like Smriti Irani have led spirited campaigns for the BJP in the state. Though Irani lost to Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi in Amethi in the 2014 general elections, the party managed to win 71 of the 80 Lok Sabha seats from Uttar Pradesh.
Analysts said that women taking the lead in campaigning will make the 2017 elections unique. But there are fears it may lead to a dilution of gender issues.
“BSP has no leader apart from Mayawati and the Congress has given its charge to a Brahmin face who happens to be a woman. Thus other parties will have to appoint women as their campaign heads or give them important positions out of compulsion. In this scenario, the votes which would have shifted to a particular party due to a woman taking over won’t happen and the gender card will get diluted," said Sanjay Kumar, director of New Delhi-based Centre for the Study of Developing Societies.
On the flip side, people will witness a new sobriety in campaigning with women taking charge, he said.
“The Indian voter hasn’t really voted on gender lines, except for a few recent cases like in Tamil Nadu and West Bengal. Voters tend to give more importance to their primordial identities like caste rather than gender. Voting on gender is an emerging trend," he added.
Rita Bahuguna Joshi, senior Congress leader from Uttar Pradesh, has a different view.
“Women voters now make electoral decisions independently, thus all parties want to approach this cadre separately. However, voters are more educated and aware now and will not vote for parties like the BSP, Samajwadi Party or BJP which despite having women as campaign heads have opposed the women’s reservation bill. It was the Congress that implemented reservation for women at the grassroots level. People know this and it sets us apart from the others," she said.
Unlock a world of Benefits! From insightful newsletters to real-time stock tracking, breaking news and a personalized newsfeed – it's all here, just a click away! Login Now!
