Opinion: No Space For Women In Siddaramaiah's First Cabinet

A woman cabinet minister was what was missing at the grand swearing-in ceremony of Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah and his Deputy DK Shivakumar.

The event, where eight other cabinet ministers - three Scheduled Caste leaders and one leader each from the Scheduled Tribes, Lingayat, Christian and Muslim communities - was aimed at showcasing the social coalition that gave the Congress an emphatic victory. But a key aspect of that coalition was women voters.

The Congress's campaign over LPG prices and welfare schemes was considered a major draw among women, who are estimated to have voted overwhelmingly in favour of the party. This only emphasised the need to have a woman face in the first cabinet, but it was not to be and that's perhaps a reflection of the poor representation women have had, like in many other states, in Karnataka's electoral politics.

There are only 10 women in the newly elected legislative assembly, just about four per cent of the 224-member house - four each from the Congress and the BJP, one from the JD(S) and an independent. In fact, the Congress had fielded only 11, the BJP 12 and JD(S) 13 women candidates.

Given such small numbers, their representation in a state cabinet shrinks further. In the last cabinet there was only one woman minister and this time too it may remain at that number. Though few, most of the women who have won are highly qualified and have displayed grit and determination.

For the Congress, the elected women include Kaneez Fathima who came into the limelight for leading the protests against the Hijab ban and won from Gulbarga and the National Law School of India University alumni Nayana Motamma, who belongs to a Scheduled Caste community. A post-graduate, M Roopakala also won by a thumping margin from the Kolar Gold Fields seat.

In terms of legislative experience, the senior most among the four elected women in the Congress is two-time MLA Laxmi R Hebbalkar, who is considered a confidant of Deputy Chief Minster DK Shivakumar. Independent woman legislator Latha Mallikarjun is also a candidate, who is considered close to the Congress and backed by the party.

In the battle for cabinet berths, "women cannot be just a token" argues Tara Krishnaswamy, Co-Founder of advocacy group Political Shakti. "Congress should include all four women to make history as it expands the cabinet," she demands.

Activists like Tara have taken to Twitter to lament the meagre opportunity given to women in electoral politics and demand that parties increase the number of women they field. "The outcome is proportional to the number of women given a chance," she argues.

Apart from having no women, the inaugural cabinet of the Siddaramaiah government also does not have an "upper caste" candidate either. In fact, in these elections, the BJP's highest strike rate was among Brahmin caste candidates fielded by the party.

(TM Veeraraghav is the Executive Editor, BQ Prime.)

Disclaimer: These are the personal opinions of the author.