Gender trial in male bastion

KHELEN THOKCHOM

Key candidate - L. Kshetrani Devi

She sits in a roadside tea stall near her house discussing her election strategy with anybody who walks in for a bit of refreshment and cares to lend a ear. Meet Loitongbam Kshetrani Devi, the lone woman candidate in the Inner Manipur Parliamentary constituency of Manipur, who believes that campaigning should begin at home. Women candidates in the Outer Manipur constituency are common. Kim Gangte even won the Outer seat on a CPI ticket. But in the Inner constituency, women rarely join the fight. In fact, Kshetrani Devi is the third woman so far to be fielded from the Inner constituency. Contesting on a Rastriya Bahujan Congress Party ticket, Kshetrani Devi has numerous barriers to break before she can even begin counting her chances of a win. First, the Rastriya Bahujan Congress Party is only taking baby steps in Manipur — it debuted in the state on March 25 this year and Kshetrani Devi is its president. Second, Manipur is still to wake up to the “possibility” that women can be as able political leaders as men. Though Manipuri women lead movements against injustice and social evils like alcoholism and drug abuse, they rarely join politics. “They (women) are active in collective space like campaigns against social evils and the Armed Forces (Special Powers) Act, but not so on an individual level because of the patriarchal society. If one wants to contest an election, she will have to come out of the family, which is not an easy task in Manipuri society. It is precisely because of this reason that very few come out to contest elections. And those who have dared, could not make much of an impact,” said M.C. Arun, a social scientist. Kshetrani Devi, 50, has been courageous enough to take the “patriarchal tradition” head on and see for herself how far she can overcome the hurdle. The only sister among three siblings, Kshetrani Devi hails from Bijoygovinda Akham Leikai in Imphal West. Daughter of L. Tomba Singh, a businessman, and Muktarei Devi, a Nata Sankirtana artiste for All India Radio, Kshetrani Devi has a master’s degree in mathematics from Meerut University. She joined the Manipur People’s Party, the oldest regional party in the state, in 1995. As her political career progressed, she moved to the Manipur State Congress Party, then to the Manipur National Conference and went on to become the secretary of Manipur unit of RJD. Though she will be contesting the Lok Sabha election for the first time, elections are not an entirely new ball game for her. She contested twice in the Imphal Municipal Council elections, in 1995 and 2000, but without success. So how did she graduate from councillor aspirant to a Lok Sabha candidate? “Recently, I was in Delhi for some official work (I run an NGO). While I was in Delhi, Rashtriya Bahujan Congress Party president Bharat Singh sent journalist Ved Prakash with the offer that I could be a candidate of the party. The party was looking for woman candidates in the Northeast. I thought it over and decided to go ahead. This is how I am here today,” Kshetrani Devi said. Her NGO, called Lairenjam Leikai Women’s Welfare Association, deals in weaving and knitting. With women’s empowerment, unemployment and the Armed Forces (Special Powers) Act as her pet issues, Kshetrani Devi wants to take one step at a time. She knows her shortcomings, but hopes women voters support her. “The main problem is women are not politically aware in this state. It is because of this reason that not many women candidates are emerging for elections. My joining the fray is part of the effort to create political awareness among women,” she said. But the voters are not impressed with her efforts yet. “She will be an also-ran candidate,” said one of the neighbours.