SHILLONG, FEB 22:: In the 65 years since Independence, 14 women have gone on to become chief ministers of different states, including Rajasthan in the west to West Bengal in the east and Uttar Pradesh in the north to Tamil Nadu in the south, at different times, but, believe it or not, never ever in matrilineal Meghalaya!
Even though nothing, as they say, can be guaranteed in politics, the state is unlikely to get a woman chief minister this time as well no matter which party or formation comes to power. There is a silver lining, though, as Meghalaya prepares to vote on Saturday: highest ever women participation in the Assembly elections with 24 contestants.
To continue with the sad story, the highest number of women to get elected in the same year was in 1998 when three out of the 14 women candidates managed to enter 6th Assembly. The three women were Roshan Warjri of UDP, Deborah Marak Congress and Maysalin War of HSPDP.
The nadir as far women representation in the Assembly is concerned was reached in 1983 when none out of the eight contesting candidates made it to the 3rd Assembly.
The huge gap between men and women participation in electoral politics becomes even more perplexing given that women voters outnumber men by 15,308 counts. Out of the total of 15, 03,907 electorates in the state, 744299 are men and 759608 women.
However, with women participation this time being the largest since the first Assembly when nine out of the 189 candidates were women, there is hope still that a day will come when matrilineal Meghalaya will have its own Mayawati or Mamata. By Suraj Joshi
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