Allocation of Parliamentary Seats to Women in Election - A Fulfilment of Mahatma's Dream

Addressing a massive rally in Kendrapara on 10th March, two days after the International Women’s Day, Chief Minister of Odisha Shri Naveen Patnaik made a momentous declaration by saying “From this historic soil in Kendrapara, I announce that from Odisha 33 pct women will go to Parliament. Odisha will show India the way in empowering women.” It means that out of 21 parliamentary seats from Odisha 7 women would be fielded by BJD and if they get elected it would constitute 33 per cent of the total seats and it would constitute fulfillment of UN declared goal of giving representation to critical mass of women in legislative bodies. This bold announcement of Shri Naveen Patnaik is consistent with the vision of Mahatma Gandhi who while answering a question in London in 1931 if future legislatures of India would have more women in their fold had said that he would boycott those legislatures which did not have enough women representatives .  In other words as early as 1931 Mahatma Gandhi wanted more women in Legislative bodies of India and Shri Naveen Patnaik’s announcement that 33 percent of parliamentary seats would be fielded by women candidates from BJD fulfills the grand vision of the father of our nation whose birth anniversary is celebrated across the country and world.  It is indeed a remarkable announcement for the cause of political empowerment of women which forms part of the sustainable development goals of the United Nations.

It is worth while to recall that on 4th September 1937 Mahatma Gandhi eloquently wrote about exercise of non-violence by the whole mass of people and said that social enfranchisement of women is integral to employment of non-violence in practice. It is worth noting that Shri Naveen Patnaik suggested last year that as part of the exercise to celebrate 150th birth anniversary of Gandhiji we should put non-violence in the Preamble of the Constitution. His suggestion was hailed across the nation as innovative and illuminating. If we juxtapose his historic announcement concerning BJD women candidates contesting 33 per cent of parliamentary seats of Odisha with his suggestion that non-violence should be there in the preamble of the Constitution then we learn his commitment to put Gandhi’s ideas into practice not only fully but in substantial measure. If according to Gandhi one component of non-violence is social enfranchisement of women then the announcement of Shri Naveen Patnaik that his BJD party would field 33 per cent women candidates out of 21 parliamentary seats in Odisha is a historic step for taking forward the cause of non-violence which along with other normative principles such as sustainability, justice and respect are now considered by the German based World Future Council as indispensable normative principles for facing climate chaos and surviving the century.

What Shri Naveen Patnaik has announced to do for women’s empowerment in 2019 was attempted by Prime Minister  Jawaharlal Nehru who in a letter to Chief Ministers on 4th January 1950 asked the President of Pradesh Congress Chiefs to give more ticket to women candidates to contest elections. He did so 22 days before the Constitution came into force and India became a Republic. A few days later he wrote another letter to all the Pradesh Congress Chiefs expressing regret that his request for giving more tickets to women candidates was not honored. After the first general elections in 1952 Prime Minister Nehru was deeply disappointed when enough women were not elected to the Rajya Sabha and first Lok Sabha. In a letter to Chief Ministers he wrote poignantly,

I have been meeting our new Members of Parliament.  There are over 700 of them as between the two Houses.  I have noticed with great regret how few women have been elected.  I suppose this is so in the State Assemblies and Councils also.  I think we are very much to be blamed.  It is not a matter of showing favour to any one or even of injustice, but rather of doing something, which is not conducive to the future growth of our country.  I am quite sure that our real and basic growth will only come when women have a full chance to play their part in public life.  Wherever they have had this chance, they have, as a whole, done well, better if I may say so, than the average man.  Our laws are man made, our society dominated by man, and so most of us naturally take a very lopsided view of the matter.  We cannot be objective, because we have grown up in certain grooves of thought and action.  But the future of India will probably depend ultimately more upon the women than the men.”

What could not not be made possible by India’s first Prime Minister in spite of his noble and bold attempts for greater representation of women is being done by the Chief Minister of Odisha during the 2019 general elections.

Even in the context of 33% reservation for women in grassroots Panchayat bodies it was Odisha State which provided leadership in doing so when late Shri Biju Patnaik reserved  33% of seats in Panchayats for women. Biju Patnaik’s trend setting and revolutionary decision preceded the initiative of late Rajiv Gandhi’s  to do so for the whole country by amending the Constitution. He could not do and eventually late P V Narasimha Rao fructified it through the 73rd and 74th Constitution Amendment Act.

Naveen Patnaik’s announcement yesterday that BJD would field women candidates in 33 per cent of Parliamentary seats in Odisha flows from the resolution passed last year  by the Odisha Assembly that 33 percent of seats in Lok Sabha and State Assemblies be reserved for women across the country. Shri Patnaik sent a delegation to Centre and all States to exhort the leadership to implement 33 per cent quota for women in legislative bodies. It is in consonance with the vision of the Human Development Report of UNDP of 1995 on the theme “Women and Human Development” that “If development is not engendered it would be endangered”. It is unfortunate that NDA Government led by Prime Minister Modi did nothing for  women’s greater representation in legislatures in spite of BJP enjoying clear majority in Lok Sabha.

In Kendrapara while announcing the 33 percent reservation from BJD party for parliamentary seats for 2019 elections Shri Patnaik very profoundly observed that without adequate representation of women in legislatures and other spheres India would not be able to compete with other economically and technologically advanced countries of the world.  How true he is indeed! In fact it was Mahatma Gandhi who said in 1938 that without participation of women in all spheres of life India’s competitive ability at the global level would get diminished.  The announcement of Shri Naveen Patnaik in Kendrapara concerning greater representation of women in the Lok Sabha is truly pathbreaking and is a step to fulfill the vision of Mahatma Gandhi and realize in practice the core meaning of non-violence anchored on social enfranchisement of women.  Such extraordinary leadership of Naveen Patnaik for women’s political empowerment is coextensive with his UN and globally acknowledged leadership in effectively dealing with disasters which unfortunately hit Odisha recurrently. He is truly now a planetary leader whose role assumes much greater significance for globalized world of twenty first century. Can other parties in the State match up to the historic Kendrapara declaration and field adequate women candidates for the forthcoming general elections? It is unlikely.

Shri Sahu served as OSD and Press Secretary to President of India late Shri K R Narayanan and had a tenure as Director in Prime Minister’s Office and Joint Secretary in Rajya Sabha Secretariat.