Bhubaneswar, Dec 3: At a time when major political parties are giving importance to women's representation, Kalahandi district seems to be the exception.
Women's representation has been consistently neglected in general elections for decades, which has sparked outrage among women affiliated with various political parties in the district.
The list of candidates for recent general and assembly elections speaks volumes about it. In the Kalahandi Lok Sabha seat, no women have been elected in 17 elections from 1952 to 2019.
In the five assembly constituencies of the district, major political parties have ignored the representation of women. Roshni Singh Deo, the first and only woman leader in the district was elected to state assembly. She was the MLA of Koksara for two consecutive terms i.e. from 1995-2000 as Janata Dal candidate and from 2000-2004 as Biju Janata Dal candidate. She was the mother of former Dharmagarh MLA Puspendra Singh Deo.
Kalahandi Lok Sabha seat consists of five assembly constituencies of Kalahandi and two assembly seats of Nuapada district. In the last four general elections from 2004 to 2019, there has been zero representation of women for Kalahandi Lok Sabha and the Assembly constituencies in the district.
However, many women leaders are still hopeful of getting major political parties in the upcoming election.
