WOMEN'S EMPOWERMENT
AAP: 05
* Shraddha Khalap to contest from Mapusa
* Ursula D’Souza will battle it out in Aldona
* It's Loretta D’Souza e Shridharan inat Vasco
* Royla Fernandes takes on her rivals in Benaulim
* Cecile Rodrigues will fight it out in Taleigao
CONGRESS: 03
* Jeniffer Monseratte to contest from Taleigao
* Savitri Kavlekar in the fray from Sanguem
* Urmila Naik to battle it out for Marcaim seat
BJP: 01
* Alina Saldanha, the lone woman candidate from Cortalim
MGP: 00
* Failed to field a single woman candidate for Goa polls
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Though women in Goa are leading in all other sectors, politics is the only field they lag behind
- Laxmikant Parsekar, Chief Minister
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AGNELO PEREIRA
MAPUSA
Most political parties speak eloquent on women empowerment, but when it comes to ticket distribution they seem to stutter in ensuring gender equality.
With five women candidates in fray, Aam Aadmi Party is ahead in giving due representation to women compared to the two national parties. While Congress has fielded three candidates for the 2017 assembly polls, BJP has just one candidate.
Politics continues to be a male bastion with majority of the parties including the regional parties like MGP, Goa Forward Party and other smaller denominations failing to field a single woman candidate for the February 4 polls.
With five women candidates in the fray, AAP has scored against its rivals especially against the BJP and Congress, who leave no opportunity to ridicule the fledgling Delhi party.
In Bardez, AAP’s Shraddha Khalap, daughter-in-law of Congressman and former Union Minister, Ramakant Khalap will contest from Mapusa, while former Aldona Sarpanch, Ursula D’Souza will battle it out in Aldona.
Similarly, Loretta D’Souza e Shridharan (Vasco), Royla Fernandes (Benaulim) and Cecile Rodrigues (Taleigao) will fight it out against established politicians in their constituencies.
AAP chief ministerial candidate, Elvis Gomes, said his party made a conscious effort to get more women on board and succeeded to do much better than any other party in Goa.
“There is reluctance on part of women to contest an election, but in some instances we had more than one woman candidate like in Benaulim,” Gomes said. “But since our party believes in women empowerment, we made a conscious effort to get more of them on board,” he added.
He said initially the target was to give 10 tickets to women candidates but the party had to finally settle for five.
Coincidentally, in what appears to be an all family affair, among the three candidates nominated by the Congress, two are wives of ruling MLAs.
Jeniffer Monseratte, wife of former Congressman Anatasio (Babush) Monseratte, will contest from Taleigao, while Savitri Kavlekar, wife of Congressman and Quepem MLA Babu Kavlekar will fight from Sanguem.
Urmila Naik is the third candidate of Congress who was nominated from the Marcaim seat.
With three women candidates, Congress spokesman Trajano D’Mello said the party has done better than any other national party and the other regional outfits in the fray.
“We have done better than BJP and other regional parties in the State. We had proposed some more women names, but they refused to take up the challenge,” he said.
The biggest disappointment came from BJP, which has allotted just one ticket to a woman candidate in the State, with sitting MLA Alina Saldanha contesting from Cortalim constituency.
Chief Minister Laxmikant Parsekar said that it was difficult to get women candidates in the State although women in Goa have done exceedingly well in other fields. He said it was difficult to find women to contest an election and attributed the lack of interest due to a politician’s hectic schedule.
“The job of an MLA is almost a 24-hour job and that is why I feel most women refrain from contesting assembly elections. Though women in Goa are leading in all other sectors, politics is the only field they lag behind,” Parsekar said. “They probably cannot compete in the politics due to time constraint,” he added.
