Thiruvananthapuram: With CPM planning to field a minimum of one women candidate in each district, pressure is mounting on LDF allies to follow a similar formula to increase their female representation in the coming Assembly elections.
CPM MP P K Sreemathy said the party plan to field women candidates in each district would give ample opportunity to many aspiring leaders who have come up from the ranks. “CPM has had a tradition of giving good representation for women. If you look at the history of the state, 90 per cent of women who got elected to Kerala Legislative Assembly since 1957, belonged to the communist parties. During my tenure between 2006-2011 there was not even a single women member from the UDF,” she added.
Though the LDF’s track record giving tickets to women candidates and ensuring their victory is far better than rival UDF, women leaders in Left camp believe there scope for increasing the representation. CPM politburo member Brinda Karat has always championed the cause of women representation in Parliament and Assembly. “I cannot say specifically what would be the representation since the lists are yet to be finalised. But I am hopeful it will increase this time,” she said.
While the CPM has some clarity on women representation, its allies especially the CPI is yet to come up with a concrete formula. “As a woman legislator I have always favoured better representation for them. But these are policy decision which the party state leadership has to take,” said CPI MLA E S Bijimol.
When contacted, CPI state secretary Kanam Rajendran said his party had not fixed number of seats for women. “We will give due consideration to women and youth while finalising candidates,” he added.
Many say while CPM which contests majority of the seats has enough space for manoeuvring, the CPI with its limited numbers cannot enjoy the same luxury.
