Jayanti Patnaik and (below) Kumudini Patnaik

Berhampur, March 31: Ganjam district shows a very poor record when it comes to representation of women in the Assembly or Parliament.

Only five women have been elected to the Assembly and two to the Lok Sabha from the district in the last six decades.

In the upcoming Assembly elections, 10 women are contesting from eight out of 13 constituencies in the district. In five Assembly constituencies, there are no women candidates. These are Bhanjanagar, Khallikote, Aska, Sorada and Hinjili. The Biju Janata Dal has fielded three women candidates, while Samata Kranti Dal fielded two. The Bharatiya Janata Party, the Bahujan Samaj Party and the Aam Admi Party have fielded one candidate each, while there are two Independents.

Pramila Tripathy, 56, who is contesting from Berhampur Assembly constituency as an Independent candidate, said more and more women should come forward to contest elections. “This will help protect women from social evils and further establish their social standing,” she said.

“All the political parties who shed crocodile tears for the cause of women must come forward and field more able women candidates, she said. There have earlier been influential women politicians such as Ratna Manjari Devi, Shanti Devi, V. Sugyan Kumari Deo and Usha Devi from the district. They all belonged to various royal families.

The two women MPs from the district are Jayanti Patnaik, who was elected from Berhampur as a Congress nominee in 1998, and Kumudini Patnaik, who represented Aska as a BJD nominee in 2000.