“Reserve 20 per cent of seats for women”

After the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) fielded only five women candidates in the 2013 Assembly polls, the party’s women’s wing is now demanding that at least 20 per cent of the seats – one from each of its 14 districts – be reserved for women in the upcoming Delhi polls.

Four out of the five women candidates of the party, however, lost to their Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) opponents last year, while one lost to the Congress.

The Delhi BJP’s Mahila Morcha that met on Thursday at the party headquarters here is using the BJP’s membership drive to catch the attention of senior party leaders, largely male, who will eventually decide ticket distribution.

“We are attempting to change our style of work so that the outcome is visible. The membership drive that has every woman worker’s name and the list of people she has enrolled will be clearly listed on top of each form so we know who is doing the hard work and should be rewarded,” said Morcha president Kamaljeet Sehrawat.

Discussions were also held on how the party often bypasses hardworking party workers and fields wives of BJP politicians especially in municipal elections, said party sources.

However, the Morcha members said that Prime Minister Narendra Modi had progressive views on women’s issues going by the representation of women in his own Union Cabinet.

Ms. Sehrawat said that she would make a representation to the party higher-ups to field more women candidates in the elections.

“For the party, winnability is most important when it comes to elections. There is a perception among party members that women cannot put up with the same levels of pressure that men can and are not able to give as much time to the campaign as their male counterparts,” she said.