Search for More News
Jhunjhunu (Rajasthan), Jan 27: Rajasthan is known for its puppets and the long colourful veils covering the face of its women. Put the two together and you get the typical woman candidate of the forthcoming Panchayat elections-the 'Kathputli', or puppet candidate.
Veiled till neck, women contestants here are surely coming forward to take advantage of the 33 per cent reservation offered by the government, but who pulls the strings and calls the shots, before and after the elections, is the real question.
"There are a lot of these Rabri Devi-like candidates here and many more Lalu Prasads who make their wives contest from a women's seat. After she wins, the husband takes over the reins of power, relegating the dummy candidate to the background," said Suman Chowdhary, coordinator, Panchayat Resource Centre in Alsesar village here.
Mayawati Devi, aged 42, is contesting for the first time for the post of Sarpanch from Khurd village. Her complete dependence on her husband is betrayed by her silence and her nod to what he says.
From filling up the election form to garnering for votes and meeting the bigwigs of the village, her husband Mohanlal Toni is doing it all "on her behalf."
"I have seven children to look after, it becomes difficult to do the electoral campaigning," said Mayawati. On being asked about the main issues like unemployment and electricity shortage, she fixes her gaze on Mohanlal, who dishes out swift replies to all our queries.
"She will fight for providing 'rozgaar' to youth, for cleaning up the streets and also take up the problem of dire electricity shortage," he said, while handing out leaflets of Mayawati's electoral promises.
Their two-floor house in the Khurd village has the BJP flag fluttering on the rooftop. But Mayawati was not quite sure if she was affiliated to any party. "No party, we are fighting it alone," she said only to be later rectified by her husband.
Such is the thickness of the veil covering her face that one cannot make out how strongly she feels on these issues or if she agrees at all with her husband. Her nod, in between Mohanlal's lengthy lecture about "her electoral campaign", is all that we can rely on.
Jhunjhunu, a town in north-western Rajasthan with a population of 19 lakhs, will be having election for Panchayati Raj institutions in three phases-Jan 28, Feb 2 and 4. Such dummy candidates for women's seat have become more of a norm than an exception here, said the villagers.
Shikori Devi, aged 30, is a mother of two and is contesting from Jatawa Khurd village for the post of Sarpach for the first time. Draped in a 'ghunghat' (veil) till her neck, Shikori had nothing much to say except "my husband and brother-in-law will look into all the decisions."
When asked about the problems confronting the villages and the possible solutions, Shikori looked towards her brother-in-law Srichand for answers to these. On persuasion, she said, "I will hold panchayat with my husband and the decisions will be taken by our family as a whole."
"My husband has gone for campaigning and distribution of leaflets, when he comes back he can tell you about the problems that our village faces," she said, visibly irritated by repeated queries.
Alsesar village also has a woman seat reserved and voting would be held here on Feburary 4. Saroj and Vimala Devi are the two candidates facing each other for the Sarpanch election here.
Both women claim to be educated till eighth standard. Vimala, aged 53, said, "I am contesting for the second time from here and generally, the head of the family decides whom to vote for. I had won the first time and this time too I will attend panchayats with my in-laws and husband seated beside me."
However, despite winning the previous election, Vimala could not name a single achievement or any issue that she is fighting for this time.
But all is not gloom and doom, said Rajan Chowdhary, secretary, Shikshit Rozgaar Kendra Prabandhak Samiti, an NGO working to spread awareness in Panchayat elections here.
Dismissing the cynicism, Chowdhary said, "Yes, I concede that there are many such puppet candidates here. But within a span of one year after winning the election you will notice a sea change in these veiled women and their confidence level will shoot up."
Besides, Chowdhary points out that out of eight blocks in Jhunjhunu, there are female sarpanch in six of them. "Doesn't this ratio far exceed the 33 per cent guaranteed by the government," he asked.
"Under the laws laid down by the government, a woman sarpanch's husband is not allowed to attend official meetings with her. So, there will be gradual change brought about by awareness, exposure and opportunity," Chowdhary said.
"The state election commission has approved certain specially designed posters to be put up to counter the menace of 'katputli candidates.' These posters show a man holding a lady's puppet and campaigning for her. We have educated the villagers not to fall prey to such dummy candidates," said Sandip Das, media officer, PRIA. (Agencies)
Published: Thursday, January 27, 2005
__________________________________________________
Do You Yahoo!?
Tired of spam? Yahoo! Mail has the best spam protection around
http://mail.yahoo.com
互户互户互户互户互户互せカせЙせ
This is ZESTCaste whose members watch India's painful journey to society's de-casteisation. Members are encouraged to post messages to ZESTCaste@yahoogroups.com
If you got this mail as a forward, subscribe to ZESTCaste by sending a blank mail to [EMAIL PROTECTED] OR, if you have a Yahoo! ID, by visiting http://groups.yahoo.com/group/ZESTCaste/join
Get all ZESTCaste mails sent out in a span of 24 hours in a single mail. Subscribe to the daily digest version by sending a blank mail to [EMAIL PROTECTED], OR, if you have a Yahoo! Id, change your settings at http://groups.yahoo.com/group/ZESTCaste/join
==theZESTcommunity======================================
[1] ZESTCurrent: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/ZESTCurrent/
[2] ZESTEconomics: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/ZESTEconomics/
[3] ZESTGlobal: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/ZESTGlobal/
[4] ZESTMedia: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/ZESTMedia/
[5] ZESTPoets: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/ZESTPoets/
[6] ZESTCaste: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/ZESTCaste/
[7] ZESTAlternative: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/ZESTAlternative/
[8] TalkZEST: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/TalkZEST/
Yahoo! Groups Links
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/ZESTCaste/
[EMAIL PROTECTED]
