Karnataka Pradesh Mahila Congress on Thursday urged the party to give at least 30 tickets to women in the upcoming Assembly elections. Mahila Congress President Pushpa Amarnath said, “109 applications have come seeking tickets, in about 74 constituencies women have applied for tickets. Scrutiny is on for winning candidates. Along with women legislators I had participated in the party’s election meeting at Belagavi recently, where I had placed a request to give tickets to at least 30 women.”
Speaking to reporters here, she said winnability will be the criteria for the ticket distribution. “But, having received so many applications from women in itself is a revolution, there is awareness to ask for tickets, that’s a good sign,” she added. The 224 member Karnataka assembly will go to polls by May. Among the eleven women members in the current assembly, six are from Congress, three from BJP, one from JD(S) and one nominated. The women Congress legislators are- Laxmi Hebbalkar (Belgaum Rural), Kaneez Fatima (Gulbarga North), Roopakala M (KGF), Anjali Nimbalkar (Khanapur), Soumya Reddy (Jayanagar), and Kusumavati Shivalli (Kundagol). Asserting that only by bringing in women’s reservation, a larger number of women can get tickets to contest polls, Amarnath said, raising above party line there is a need to fight for it. Only through women’s reservation legislation can women get an adequate number of tickets and representation, she noted. The BJP which has a majority should pass this bill.
“Our leader Rahul Gandhi and leadership have already declared that in the event of Congress getting a complete majority and coming to power, womens’ reservation bill will be passed and it will be implemented,” she added. State Congress President D K Shivakumarhad recently said that the party is planning a separate manifesto for women ahead of polls, and wants to release a “guarantee letter” expressing Congress’ commitment towards them. Meanwhile, Congress general secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra is scheduled to address a women’s convention here on January 16, aimed at galvanising the support of womenfolk ahead of Assembly polls in Karnataka.