Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi, NCP chief Sharad Pawar and BJP's Eknath Khadse had all along emphasized on women empowerment, but all politicians are paying lip service to their emancipation.
Since Rahul had made a strong pitch for female nominees, it was expected that the Congress would give tickets to a large number of women. However, only 27 women have made it to the Congress list and most of them are close relatives of its senior leaders. The BJP has nominated former legislator Manda Mhatre from Belapur and activist Bharti Lavekar from Versova against NCP's Narendra Verma.
In the Kej assembly constituency, all major political parties have nominated women candidates. "Kej will witness a four-cornered contest," a BJP leader said. BJP's Sangita Thombre will square off against Namrata Mundhada (NCP), Kalpana Narhire (Shiv Sena), a former MP Anjali Ghadge (Congress). Ghadge was associated with the BJP but switched over to the Congress after she was denied a ticket. The Congress leader said since Maharashtra was the first state to provide for 50% reservation for women in zilla parishad and civic bodies. "In the absence of legislation, 50% reservation for women is not possible, but still more number of women should have been nominated," he said.
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