The nomination of Odisha Revenue and Disaster Management Minister Pramila Mallik for the Speaker’s post by Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik may be perceived as a symbolic gesture amid the parliamentary debate on the women’s reservation Bill, but the veteran Chief Minister has been consistently nurturing his core vote bank – women – since his initial days of rule.
Given the brute majority, the ruling Biju Janata Dal (BJD) enjoys in the Assembly, Ms. Mallik is all set to become the first woman Speaker of the State.
Political analysts attribute the long innings of Mr. Patnaik, who is the second longest serving Chief Minister of the country, to steady support from women in the past five elections. The BJD is also banking on women for the coming election.
Reservation in panchayati raj
Mr. Patnaik carried forward the legacy of his father, Biju Patnaik, who was credited with being the first Chief Minister in the country to initiate 33% reservation for women in the panchayati raj system. In 1991, Orissa Grama Panchayats Act 1964 was amended to make such a provision.
A year later, Constitution 73rd and 74th Amendment Acts were introduced which reserved one-third of seats for women in panchayati raj institutions and offices of the chairperson at all levels of panchayati raj institutions, and in urban local bodies respectively for the first time.
The Chief Minister was instrumental in passing the Odisha Panchayat Laws (Amendment) Bill, 2011, raising the reservation for women in panchayat raj institutions from 33% to 50% which came into force during 2012 panchayat elections.
Five women Ministers
Despite political parties harping on the passage of the women reservation Bill for the past several decades, most of the parties had not shown sincerity in raising women’s representation in Parliament in their own level. In the 2019 election, Mr. Patnaik had fielded women from seven out of 21 Lok Sabha seats – which accounted for 33% representation. There are five women Ministers in the 21-member Patnaik Cabinet.
In 2018, the BJD passed a resolution in the Assembly seeking 33% reservation for women in Assemblies and Parliament. Subsequently, Mr. Patnaik wrote letters to Prime Minister Narendra Modi and all Chief Ministers for their support for reservation. He had even sent his Ministers to personally hand over the letters to all Chief Ministers.
Mission Shakti
Apart from his emphasis on women representation in political sphere, he has created his own fanbase among women by launching Mission Shakti – an initiative for promotion of woman self-help groups (WSHGs) in March 2001, a year after becoming Chief Minister for the first time. The government claimed to have helped form six lakh WSHGs comprising around 70 lakh women members. Subsequently, Mission Shakti became a separate department.
For the past several years, the Patnaik government has given all types of responsibilities to the WSHGs ensuring that women become economically self-dependent and decision-makers in villages.
Though there has been no estimation of the number of women voting for the regional party, both Bharatiya Janata Party and BJD insiders admitted that there was an overwhelming women’s support for Mr. Patnaik.
“I have myself interacted with women voters in villages before and after elections. I have observed that there is a definite tilt of women voters towards Mr. Patnaik. Odisha CM has fathomed it more than anybody else. In the majority of programmes being announced by the State government, an element of women’s interest can be found,” said Rabi Das, a veteran journalist and political commentator.
Mr. Das said: “The Odisha CM is following in the footsteps of his father Biju Patnaik, who was perhaps the first politician in the country to realise that women can vote independently of their family diktat. The legendary leader had realised this when he saw an overwhelming support from women for Rajiv Gandhi following the assassination of former Prime Minister Indira Gandhi.”
