Okay. So the elections in Delhi are over (phew!) and AAP won by a colossal margin or more than 60 seats! So, we can finally take a break and turn off our TV sets and give in to that celebratory feeling. Given that elections took place in Delhi for the second year in a row, the response during canvassing was pretty lukewarm. My guess is people got pretty tired of seeing the same three-ring circus of political parties again. But when it came to voting day, Delhi, which has been struggling for a year without a government, turned up in huge droves to vote the new government in.
To be honest, elections this year have been like one of our daily TV soaps aired on Hindi channels. We’ve been watching it for some time now, and we were so bored that it was causing an aneurysm in our brains, but we couldn’t switch off the television sets because we simply had to know what will happen next, inane though it may be.
Okay, the elections are not as bad as that! In fact, although the same three parties once again contested this year, the very fact that AAP won by a large margin, with no necessity required to form any coalition government whatsover, can point to some interesting conclusions, especially for us women.
For those who haven’t checked out poll results yet, here’s the heads up. AAP won with an unprecedented majority of 67 out of total 70 seats. The BJP on the other hand got decimated with a paltry 3 seats only secured. The Congress is actually a non-issue here, except for the fact that it won zero seats!
Now, we can all agree, I think, that one of the primary issues during this year’s elections in Delhi has been women’s safety. In fact, the polls have indicated that most women have voted on the basis of each party’s commitment to make the national capital a safer city to live in.
Since AAP won the elections, we women hope that this party at least will definitely improve things for women. Because, here is a new party, a party of youngsters and professionals that is not rooted in patriarchy, like the BJP, or detached and rooted in dynastic gain like the Congress. We don’t know whether they will be able to fulfill all that they promised or even a part of what they promised. But it does look like this is a party that may not blame the woman for what happened to her. And that’s a start.
In fact, according to an article done by The Times of India on polling day, it seems that this year, women in Delhi decided to vote their own way, regardless of pressure from their menfolk. In many cases, although their husbands and others in their family decided to vote for seasoned parties, the women decided to vote for AAP, citing women empowerment. Since among the 1.3 crore voters in Delhi, 60 lakh are women, it comes as no suprise that AAP got such a clear majority.
In villages, women entered polling stations with ghunghats reaching down to their waists but claimed to have pressed EVM buttons of their choice. In Jaffarpur Kalan, part of West Delhi’s Najafgarh constituency, many women voted after lunch to avoid pressure from menfolk. “We decided yesterday to vote after our morning chores to let the men finish voting in the morning. We did not want them to tell us whom to vote for,” said Neelam Devi, a voter.
As for the BJP, Kiran Bedi as a woman candidate and a one time IPS officer was expected to draw the women votes. But whether it was her inability to handle her political transition, or the BJP’s patriarchal image, the BJP today, stands decimated.
Was it the alienation of field cadres because she was foisted upon them in the last minute instead of Modi?; Was it her high-handedness with them or the last minute awkward and despreate tear-jerker that she attempted to do during a rally?; Or was it the controversial comments made by BJP and its supporters in the run up to the elections –
“Disabled people are God’s mistake.” “Modi has become the PM because of the unity of Hindus. To maintain their majority, every Hindu family should produce 10 kids.” “No skirts as uniform for school girls anymore; no jeans and mobile phones for girls; and item girls in films should be branded as prostitutes.”
We don’t know. Likely, it was a combination of all them put together. In the last two decades, we have had little choice in the matter of choosing parties. It has always choosing the lesser of the two evils at that point. But now, there is hope that AAP’s success will give rise to more groups and parties like this. Parties with a young, fresh face and relatively ‘clean’ image, who will speed up the women empowerment process.
So here’s hoping that this elections will lay the foundation for a third choice, not just for women, but for everybody. Let’s bid good bye to old school politics.
Image Courtesy: BCCL
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