Breaking 73-Year Dry Spell: Will Bengaluru Have Its First Female MP?

In the last 17 Lok Sabha elections, Bengaluru has never had a woman Member of Parliament. However, this year, leading parties Bharatiya Janata Party and Congress have fielded strong female candidates who are poised to break this 73-year-old dry spell. Bengaluru South's Sowmya Reddy from the Congress and Bengaluru North's Shobha Karandlaje from the BJP are set to change the game in the upcoming Lok Sabha polls. Sowmya Reddy is presently the MLA of Jayanagar constituency and Karandlaje is the Union Minister of Agriculture and Farmer's Welfare. 

The IT city has three Lok Sabha constituencies and is set to go into polls in the second phase on April 26. In the State of Karnataka, 17 out of 22 constituencies have more female voters than male, the electoral commission recently stated. However, Bengaluru Central, Bengaluru South, and Bengaluru North have shown an unmissable disparity in the female-to-male voter ratio.

More Women In Parliament

With the voters' burgeoning demand for more female members in the parliament, leading political parties are pushing more women representatives onto the field this year. BJP's Shobha Karandlaje and Congress' Sowmya Reddy are taking centre stage in Bengaluru for the Lok Sabha elections in 2024. Will they be able to script history as the first female MP this year?

Former mayor Gangambike Mallikarjun recalled in a conversation with The New Indian Express how social philosopher Basavanna had stressed the importance of women in leadership. "Considering this, we should have had many women leaders in top positions in the country. But, women are yet to get their proper share of representation in all elected bodies," the Congress leader said.

Sharing her own experience with gender discrimination in politics, Mallikarjun narrated, "I was Bengaluru mayor and had also worked in many positions not only in the party but also in various associations and organisations. Just because I am a woman, I was not given a ticket for Chickpet." She stated how this disparity is costing Bengaluru effective leadership.

"Bengaluru has unique problems and women candidates can tackle them effectively by not getting influenced by any vested interests," Mallikarjun told TNIE. She emphasised the need for reservation for women in politics. Notably, the Women's Reservation Bill was passed by President Droupadi Murmu in 2023, giving 33% reservation to women in Parliament.