The newly formed Congress government in Karnataka may have tried experimenting with experienced leaders and newcomers, but political critics feel that the party, which runs its campaign on women-centric policies and schemes, has fielded only one woman minister, Lakshmi Hebbalkar. designated. Almirah.
Chief Minister Siddaramaiah’s cabinet has 34 ministers, including eight first-time ministers, one of whom is Hebbalkar.
“They have a new face in the form of Nayana Motamma and Kaneez Fathima, who have been elected as MLAs for the second time. They could have given one more ministry to a woman as per their commitment to give more power to women to bring about change, said a woman Congress leader on condition of anonymity.
Hebbalkar, a powerful politician from Karnataka’s Belagavi region, was appointed minister of women and child welfare in the Siddaramaiah government on May 27 – the day she moved into her new role of grandmother. He has already proved his political might with his second consecutive victory from the constituency over the BJP candidate by a margin of 56,016 votes in the recently concluded assembly elections.
Despite facing political setbacks, such as losing the Belagavi Rural assembly seat in 2013 (the same seat she won this time) and the Belagavi Lok Sabha seat in 2014, Hebbalkar’s political ascent within the Congress continued. In 2015, she was appointed as the Karnataka Congress Mahila Morcha chief, and then defeated BJP’s Sanjay Patil to regain Belagavi Rural in 2018.
Known for her political flexibility and sharp skills, Hebbalkar comes from the influential Lingayat Panchamasali community and has risen through the ranks under the guidance of her political mentor, DK Shivakumar, who is now the Deputy Chief Minister.
Despite facing stiff opposition and competition from the financially powerful and influential Jarkiholi clan, she has been able to successfully run her career. Like the Jarkiholis, Hebbalkar’s family is involved in the sugar factory business, owns Harsha Sugars Limited in Belagavi, and has actively participated in cooperatives in the region.
Hebbalkar’s induction into the state cabinet has put a stamp on his career, given the controversies and allegations he has faced over the years.
Allegations were made regarding the allocation of G-category sites belonging to the Belagavi Urban Development Authority during the SM Krishna regime in the early 2000s, when Shivakumar was the urban development minister.
His name cropped up again when it was alleged that his family had bought agricultural land before the e-tender was announced for solar projects.
In 2018, Congress workers from Belagavi district wrote a letter to Siddaramaiah, claiming that they were concerned about alleged illegal activities linked to Hebbalkar.
Hebbalkar’s growing influence in the Congress has often been attributed to his mentor Shivakumar’s efforts to groom him. Insiders say that Hebbalkar’s growing influence within the party, along with Shivakumar’s support, to gain control of the Primary Land Development (PLD) bank in Belagavi from the Jarkiholi brothers was one of the main reasons for Ramesh Jarkiholi’s exit from the party. Was. BJP.
Like her mentor Shivakumar, Hebbalkar too has come under the scanner of probe agencies for her business dealings. IT officials said income tax raids were conducted on his premises in 2017 and 2019 and undisclosed assets worth Rs 162 crore were unearthed. He was also summoned by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) in a money laundering case involving Shivakumar.
It is important to note that the representation of women in politics has decreased drastically over the years, and the figures of political parties also indicate the same. In this year’s assembly elections, the Congress gave only 12 tickets to women candidates, including Hebbalkar, while the BJP and the JDS gave 14 and seven tickets, respectively.
Historically, despite women making up 50% of the voting population, Karnataka has sent a disappointingly limited number of women to the state assembly or even the Lok Sabha. Since 1952, only 13 women have been elected to represent Karnataka in the Lok Sabha.
This year only 10 out of 186 women were successful in getting elected in Congress, BJP and JDS. Of these, three from BJP, four from Congress, two from JDS and Latha Mallikarjuna, daughter of veteran leader and former deputy chief minister late MP Prakash, contested as an independent. He won the Harapanahalli assembly constituency and later shifted his support to the Congress.
Let us have a look at how many women were elected as MLAs from Karnataka and how many became ministers in the respective governments in the last two decades.
In 2008, when the BJP made inroads in the south under BS Yediyurappa, three out of 107 women candidates won the assembly elections, two of whom were from the BJP – Shobha Karandlaje (Yesvantpur) and Seema Masuti (Dharwad). – and one from Congress – Shama Ghatge (Kudhachi).
Shobha was the only one to make it to the cabinet where she was appointed as Minister of Rural and Panchayati Raj and later as Minister of Energy.
The Siddaramaiah-led Congress came to power in 2013, and managed to win six of the 175 women candidates – BJP’s Sasikala Jolle (Nippani) and Y Ramakka (Kolar Gold Fields); Congress’s Umashree (Terdal), Sharda Mohan Shetty (Kumta), Shakuntala Shetty (Puttur) and JDS’s Sharda Poonja (Shimoga Rural).
Umashree was made a minister in this government and was given the Ministry of Women and Child Development.
In the next election year 2018, despite the BJP winning 103 seats, the Congress and the JDS forged an alliance under the chief ministership of HD Kumaraswamy. He inducted Jayamala, an MLC, into his cabinet to handle the Ministry of Women and Child. In this election, seven of the 219 women candidates won – BJP’s Shashikala Jolle (Nippani), Rupali Naik (Karwar), K Poornima (Hiriyur), and Congress’s Lakshmi Hebbalkar (Belagavi Rural), Anjali Nimbalkar (Khanapur), Kaneez Fathima (Gulbarga North), and Roopkala Shashidhar (KGF).
The BJP managed to lure 16 Congress and JDS MLAs from its party in 2019, forming a government under BS Yediyurappa and with just one woman minister, Sasikala Jole, who was also given the women and child development ministry.
Interestingly, since 1957, the erstwhile state of Mysore has had 13 women elected to the Legislative Assembly. The elections since 1962 saw 18 women elected. However, since then, there has been a steady decline in the number of women candidates winning seats. The 1989 election saw a slight improvement with 10 women winners, but remained an exception.
Commenting on the political situation, two-time former legislator and advocate Pramila Nesargi said that some men prefer to restrict women to being school teachers or nurses, or actresses or air hostesses, rather than allowing them to become legislators.
“There is something fundamentally wrong with the whole system. Not only men, society also opposes women’s progress. Despite women’s superiority in intellectual, creative and management skills, political parties are often fearful of their potential success, leading to There is a reluctance to promote women. The fear is such that if more women actively participate in politics then men may end up being the ones seeking reservation,” Nesargi told News18.
Congress’s Hebbalkar also believes that women should not depend only on reservation or family ties to enter politics. She believes that women can excel in any field. He said politics can be a tough job, but two women from Zilla Parishad to the top can make a big difference.