Ms Bindu Krishna and Ms K. A. Sheeba, the two women candidates fielded by the Congress from Attingal and Alathur Parliament constituencies respectively, have said that they had given a good fight to their rivals in the two seats which are LDF bastions. But they say that the Congress must do its home work well before fielding women from unsure seats. Without 33 percent reservation in Parliament, women are bound to get a raw deal, they add.
While Ms Bindu was defeated by LDF’s A. Sampath by 69,378 votes, Ms Sheeba lost to Mr P. K. Biju by 37,312 votes. Though both could not lead in any of the seven Assembly constituencies, they toiled hard to make an impact. Ms Bindu is not a novice in electoral battle, though she had lost in Chathannoor Assembly constituency in 2009. Being an Ezhava community member, she was fielded in Attingal at the behest of KPCC president V. M. Sudheeran. Ms Bindu told DC that her failure was due to the lack of party machinery as there were scores of people in Attingal whose names were not included in the final voters’ list.
“The Congress has not been doing its homework, and without it, it is not possible to have a proper base. As Attingal is a stronghold of LDF, the party should have done its homework well before fielding a candidate, especially a woman, from there” said Ms Bindu.
She added that when the BJP was in the Opposition it had demanded women’s reservation Bill to be enacted in Parliament. Now the Modi government must ensure its passage, she said.
Ms Sheeba said though she was a newcomer in the electoral field, she could give a good fight in Alathur. “If not for the second highest number of NOTA votes in Alathur (21,417) after Malappuram, things would have been different. The voters did not cast their franchise looking at the profile of the candidates, but certain other factors,” she told DC.
In 1989 and 1991, the Congress had fielded Savithri Lakshmanan twice from Mukundapuram Parliament constituency (which was dissolved and instead Chalakkudy was formed). The biggest advantage for her was that she was a protege of former Chief Minister K. Karunakaran.
