A member of Constituent Assembly Hari Vishnu Kamath strangely remarked during the discussions on political reservations for women. He said, ‘Were women not led more by heart, and was not politics a matter more of the mind?’. He questioned the principle of political equality by terming women as ‘emotional beings'. Reducing the political equality to the domestic space for more than 70 years, the women have been subjected to gender apartheid in the union and state legislatures. In a special parliament session summoned by the second woman president Droupadi Murmu, the Nari Shakti Vandan Adhiniyam Bill, 2023 to grant 33% reservation to women in Lok Sabha and Legislative Assemblies is unanimously passed by both the houses of the Parliament. The implementation of the Act would become the testimony to the fact whether men in the Parliament and assemblies will change their mind or not. Though this Act is yet to become a reality, it has emerged from the slumber as a stepping stone in fostering gender equality. The BJP has managed to pass it due to its absolute majority in both the houses. In this context, it is important to reflect on the gender discourse in Goa’s politics.
Instantly after the passing of Act, Chief Minister Pramod Sawant announced the reservation of 13 constituencies to women in 2027 assembly election. Rationalising the decision to offer two tickets in the same family, the functionaries of the ruling party also cleared that only one person from the family can stake their claim for the ministership. It is said that the small size of the StateS ensures the rights, liberties and equality due to its administrative efficiency. Since liberation, exiguous number of women MLAs witnessed the legislative affairs in the assembly. Congress had given the two women CMs Sucheta Kripalini and Nandini Satpathy in Uttar Pradesh and Odisha respectively, Maharashtra’s former CM Vasantrao Naik is said to have been involved in making Shashikala Kakodkar as the third chief woman CM in India. She was made CM due to untimely death of former CM and her father Dayanand Bandodkar. Despite anti-incumbency and relentless opposition from Congress and UGP leadership, 38-year-old and first youngest woman CM Kakodkar successfully completed her five-year term. During her second term as CM, she was defeated by her own cabinet on the floor during the budget session. The entire budget of 1978-1979 was published by the Gomantak daily before its presentation in the assembly. These two incidents undermined women's leadership in Goa. After Kakodkar, no woman MLA singly dared to aspire to the position of CM or cabinet minister in Goa. The rivalry among men MLAs escalated the political instability since 1990s and decentred the women factor from the legislative business. Instead of becoming decisive force in government formation, women MLAs emerged subordinated leadership. Sanyogita Rane was the only woman MP belonging to MGP, Goa to be elected to parliament since liberation.
The political system in Goa represents peculiar political culture. Men in the legislative assembly represent the political society whereas women activism is largely reduced to civil society organizations. The civil society activism fails to checkmate the dynamics of the political power. The participation of women in Anti-Special Economic Zones movements and anti-mining movements has not much upset the male dominance in the politics. The recent agitations against IIT in Shel-Melauli and Sanguem also witnessed impressively hefty involvement of women agitators. It shows that despite the presence of highly conscious women movement, the presence of the women leadership in all political parties is frail and fragile in Goa.
After the 73rd and 74th constitutional amendment, women were guaranteed the 33% reservations in the elections to Panchayati Raj institutions and Urban Local Bodies. The UPA government brought the 110th constitutional amendment in 2009 to increase the women reservation from 33% to 50% in local bodies. This amendment never became reality but prior to that Nitish Kumar-led government in Bihar implemented 50% reservation for women in 2006. Many states followed Bihar but Goa continues to offer one third reservation to women. In 2022 elections, Trinamool Congress promised to implement 50% reservation if they come to power. Otherwise, 50% representation for women in local bodies has never been an issue in recent past in the state. Private bodies of local governance such as Comunidades are also not representative of women.
Goa has developed an interesting trend wherein the women from the marginalised sections seem to represent many panchayats including the unreserved wards. The educated and women from affluent classes appear to be least interested in Panchayat elections. The panchayats from coastal Goa are considered as worth contesting. The cash-rich women eye urban clubs to float their political expressions. They work in sync with the state governments building the loyalties with political leadership. The creation of such informal organizations overlaps with the interests of formal institutions of local governance. The local institutions are fully dependent on the state legislature for financial assistance as the subject of local government falls under the State list. The interventions of these informal organizations into the areas marked for elected local bodies may undermine the democratization and decentralisation entrusted through the constitution.
The Women Reservation Bill was brought amidst the movement of Scheduled Tribes for political reservation in the assembly. The reservation of 13 seats would make STs restructure their demands as this Act promises reservation for ST women. Looking at the population of the OBCs in the state, the political parties need to ensure the representation of the OBC women as well. The 84th Amendment Act, 2001 froze the number of Lok Sabha seats as per 1971 Census till 2031 census. Though this Act may come into force in 2034, the political parties in Goa should set the convention before its implementation by offering tickets as per the provisions of the Act.
