Women Outnumber Men In Madhya Pradesh Panchayat Polls; 67% Win Unopposed

In the Madhya Pradesh Panchayat elections, women candidates outnumbered the men in more than 85% of the districts. The districts where female candidates outweigh the men candidates include areas known for being male-dominated and patriarchal like Bundelkhand and Chambal valley.

Out of 52 districts in Madhya Pradesh, there were more nominations from women in 45 districts. While the seven remainder districts—Betul, Seoni, Neemuch, Ashok Nagar, Shajapur, Ujjain, and Mandsaur—saw that more men than women had filed for nominations.

The state's Panchayat polls saw a total of 1,44,616 candidates contesting of which 53% were women with 76,997 women filing nominations. The number of women candidates in Madhya Pradesh also surpassed 50% of the seats served for women.

The results of the polls were astounding as 112 panchayat victories were unopposed; of the 112, 75 Panchayats will be headed by women who were elected unchallenged. That said, nearly 67% of the unopposed victory was achieved by women in the state's panchayat polls.

In the Dhamkeda village in Madhya Pradesh, a dummy candidate won the election unopposed. Phoolbai Kushwaha had filled the form with her husband as a dummy candidate, beside the now-Sarpanch and her husband, one more person applied for the post of Sarpanch. Alongside Kushwaha, 17 women were elected as the Panch. For the first time in the village, all of the elected Panch are women without reservation and were elected without any opposition.

The government grants Rs 15 lakhs for village work if the Panch and Sarpanch elected is a woman that ran unopposed. Thus, the election candidates and citizens unanimously decided that the male candidates contesting the election would back out in Damkheda.

Two more women were elected unopposed in the Madhya Pradesh Panchayat elections. Lalita Rajput, wife of Malkhan Singh, former Chambal dacoit was elected as Sarpanch in the Guna district. Due to the aforementioned government scheme that awards the village Rs 15 lakhs if women are elected as the Sarpanch and Panch unopposed.

Rajput said that “I want to develop my village. There is no light or road or sewerage, so I want to work for the development of my village.”

Suggested Reading: Dummy Candidate Wins Unopposed, Madhya Pradesh Bourg Gets Its All-Women Panchayat