Only 9% of women netas won in 4 state polls in 2011

NEW DELHI: Mother's Day saw its usual share of women empowerment messages on Sunday, but that's not still not reflected in the Indian political scene. Barely about 10% of candidates contesting the current elections in four states are women.While the number of women contestants has more or less stagnated in West Bengal, Assam and Kerala, in Tamil Nadu the number of women contestants has nearly doubled from 6% to 11% since the last assembly polls.Though Bengal has a woman chief minister, only 10% of the tickets went to women in 2016. In Kerala, the number was even less at 8%. Both states had the same percentage of women candidates in the 2011 polls as well. Assam improved its tally marginally with the percentage of women candidates rising from 8% to 9%.The percentage of women winners in the four poll-bound states was depressingly low in 2011. In the 2011 state polls, the percentage of women who won was about 9%, according to National Election Watch. In Bengal, women won 33 of 285 seats (12%), while in Assam it was only 11% (14 of 126 seats). In TN, the percentage was even lower at 7% (16 of 225 seats) and in Kerala women won only 6% (7 of the 126 seats).This news comes at a time when parties have acknowledged and are actively wooing the woman voter. This was first seen in the 2014 general elections when the percentage of women voters rose to 65.6% from 55.8% in 2009. The total voter turnout was 66.4%, up from 58.2% in previous polls.The influence of women voters is reflected in the sops promised by parties, whether it is prohibition, maternity benefits or pension schemes. Tamil Nadu CM Jayalalithaa recently promised to increase financial assistance under a maternity scheme from Rs 12,000 to Rs 18,000, assured to double the quantum of gold for 'tali' (mangal sutra), provide subsidy for women to buy scooters and train them to drive. In Bengal, Mamata Banerjee has promised a pension scheme for women and increase in the number of female police personnel.In several states, women outnumber male voters. According to a report, states like Bihar, Rajasthan, Punjab, Odisha, Tamil Nadu and Uttarakhand have a burgeoning female population.