The Hindu : Andhra Pradesh News : Fair sex gets its due

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Thursday, Apr 02, 2009
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Andhra Pradesh

Andhra Pradesh

Fair sex gets its due

Correspondent

11 women fielded by different parties

Women voters more than men in all Assembly seats
Ashok’s mother first woman to enter Assembly

VIZIANAGARAM: Telugu Desam, Praja Rajyam and Lok Satta parties have each allotted three seats to women in the nine Assembly constituencies in the district thus giving due representation to the fair sex. The Congress fielded one candidate for the Lok Sabha and one for the Assembly. The number of women voters is more in each Assembly segment than men. According to figures available, of the total electorate of 16,19,369, women constitute 8,33,061 and men 7,86,308 i.e. 46,753 more women than men in all the segments. While Kurupam (ST) constituency topped the number of women voters with 6,828, Nellimarla stood at the bottom with 3,014. In other constituencies the number of women voters in each constituency is given in brackets: Parvathipuram (SC) (4,712), Salur (ST) (6,064), Bobbili (6,511), Cheepurupalli (4,887), Gajapathinagaram (5,476), Vizianagaram (4,654) and S.Kota (5,727).

The Congress fielded Savarapu Jayamani from Parvathipuram (SC) and Botcha Jhansi Lakshmi, sitting MP, from Vizianagaram Parliamentary constituency.

While the TDP, out of eight seats it is contesting, fielded Padala Aruna from Gajapathinagaram, Kolla Lalitha Kumari from S.Kota and Gummadi Sandhya Rani from Salur (ST), the Praja Rajyam fielded Meesala Geetha from Vizianagaram Assembly segment, Routhu Suneetha from Cheepurupalli and Retlapalli Lalitha from Parvathipuram (SC) and the Lok Satta fielded Rai Padmavathi from Nellimarla, Penki Saraswathi from Bobbili and S.J. Mariamma from Salur (ST).

A review of the elections held so far after the entry of TDP in 1983, the Congress allotted tickets to two women, Boddu Kalavathi (Uttarapalli) in 1994 and Gummadi Sandhya Rani in 1999 (Salur). The TDP gave more representation to women in the Assembly than its rival Congress. In the elections 1983, Tripurana Venkataratnam entered the Assembly as a TDP candidate from Cheepurupalli, T. Sarsathamma from the same constituency in 1989, Padala Aruna in 1989, 94 and 2004 from Gajapathinagaram, Yerrra Annapoornamma in the bye-election to Parvathipuram in 1997 and Sobha Hymavathi in 1999 from S. Kota (ST) constituency. Vempatapu Bharati from Naguru (ST) in 1985 and Dwarapureddi Pratima Devi from Parvathipuram in 1999 contested the election unsuccessfully.

Kusuma Gajapathi Raju, mother of P. Ashok Gajapathi Raju, was the first woman to enter the Assembly from Gajapathinagaram in the district as a Praja Socialist Party candidate.

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