Bengal BJP Struggles to Find Enough Women Candidates for Lok Sabha Elections

In line with the federal BJP's plan to have around one-third of women candidates in most states for the forthcoming Lok Sabha elections, the Bengal BJP is having trouble identifying 12 to 14 female candidates for the state's 42 parliamentary seats.

With the BJP government's 'Women Reservation Bill' passing both houses during the special parliamentary session, more women are being nominated nationally. The President has signed the law, but it cannot be put into effect until the census and delimitation process are finished. Nevertheless, the BJP hopes to see a higher percentage of women in the next Lok Sabha elections.

"We need to field female candidates for at least one-third of the state's seats, but the issue is that there aren't enough qualified female candidates. On the condition of anonymity, a top Bengal BJP official said, "The instruction was given to us by (Union home minister) Amit Shah and (national party president) J.P. Nadda during their recent visit to Calcutta. However, there are a handful of women leaders in the party who have statewide acceptance."

The party's female leaders, Locket Chatterjee, Agnimitra Pal, and Rupa Ganguly, who have more recognition in Bengal, were the subject of the senior leader's remarks. “They have the acceptance because they have an identity beyond politics,” the leader stated before adding that even figures like Debashree Chaudhury, an MP from Raiganj, who has been with the party for a long period, has very little support beyond North Dinajpur.

Political watchers speculate that the patriarchal structure of the saffron movement, where relatively few women hold important positions, may have something to do with the issue.

Think back to the most recent Lok Sabha election, in which the BJP nominated 429 candidates, just 53 of whom were female. Just 41 of the 303 candidates that were elected were female, according to a political observer.

Women are underrepresented in the party's decision-making structures as well. In the party, there are only two female state presidents. Adhikarimayum Sharda Devi of Manipur became the BJP's first female state president in 2021. He said, "Daggubati Purandeswari became the second female state president when she was appointed in Andhra Pradesh more recently.

Bengal's situation is much more depressing. In 2019, the BJP could only muster five nominations, while the Trinamul Congress managed to field seventeen women, or over forty-one percent of the whole field.

As a result, Locket Chatterjee from Hooghly and Debashree Chowdhury from North Dinajpur were the two female Bengal BJP members represented in Parliament, whereas there were nine women MPs from Trinamul.

Party officials said that the lack of female BJP candidates in Bengal was due to a number of factors. Although the BJP has a Mohila Morcha (women's wing), led by Rupa Ganguly and then Locket Chatterjee, a top party official said that the group's activities have been restricted.

"Without a clear identity and often mired in internal politics, the Mohila Morcha has always held a subservient position inside the party. There is a noticeable gap in women's leadership inside the party as a consequence of the lack of opportunities for capable leaders to emerge from this wing, the leader said.

Party sources speculated that the central leadership may bring in some well-known people from sports and the movie industry to help with the party's lack of notable female characters.

According to a source, "the BJP central leadership is reaching out to Bollywood female stars with strong connections to Bengal and is also exploring the possibility of bringing renowned sports figures from Bengal (to the party)."