Women politicos still get a raw deal

Hyderabad, April 1: There are 294 Assembly seats in Andhra Pradesh, of which 182 have never elected women candidates in all these years.

As per records, only 81 constituencies out of 294 have elected women in the last 60 years. Out of them, only 31 have chosen a woman MLA for two or more times.
Karimnagar and Prakasam districts in the State have elected only six women to the Assembly in the last 60 years whereas Hyderabad, Guntur, Mahabubnagar and Srikakulam sent the highest number of women to the Assembly. Ms T. Kotamma Reddy from Prattipadu in Guntur, Ms T. Santha Bhai from Mahabubnagar, Ms A. Kamala Devi from Alair and Ms Masuma Begum from Hyderabad were some of the earliest women representatives who fought the elections of 1952.
It is evident that political parties prefer male candidates by and large. In most of the constituencies, wom-en leaders do not grow powerful enough to demand tickets from the parties.
However, the Union minister, Ms Renuka Chowdh-ary, said that things have changed now. “Chances of women have increased with the increased awareness.” Ms Chowdhary has won the Khammam Lok Sabha seat twice and is now trying for a hat-trick.
Though the State had elected a woman Speaker, Mrs Pratiba Bharati, in 1999 and a deputy speaker, Ms G. Kuthuhalamma, in the present term, these are rare instances.
In the 41-member Cabinet, only four women got ministerial berths: Dr J. Geetha Reddy, Ms Sabita Indra Reddy, Ms N. Rajya Laxmi and Ms G. Aruna Kumari.
“It is an uphill task for a woman MLA to prove her worth in the male-dominated legislative body,” said Ms Sabita Indra Reddy, the minister for mines.