Of 29 women in fray, only three win, most lose deposit in the Himachal Pradesh elections

In a state where more women than men turned up to vote, women candidates failed to make any impact. Of the 29 women who contested the Himachal elections, only three won; most failed to garner even 500 votes.

Despite candidates focussing on several women-related issues, voters have not shown any confidence in them. The women had campaigned actively, even trekking to far-flung villages and tackling difficult hill terrain but the efforts did not pay off. The fact that many of them contested for parties that are still finding their feet in the hills, only added to their problems.

Among the prominent women in the Himachal Pradesh elections fray were Vidya Stokes (Congress) at Theog, Asha Kumari (Congress) and Renu Chadha (BJP) from Dalhousie, Sarveen Chaudhary (BJP) at Shahpur, Sudha Sushant (Independent) at Fatehpur, Anita Verma (Congress) at Sujanpur and Mayor Anita Thakur (Independent) at Chamba.

While Congress's Asha Kumari defeated archrival and sitting legislator Renu Chadha of the BJP by a margin of 7,365 votes at Dalhousie, BJP's Sarveen Chaudhary got the better of the Congress's Vijai Singh Mankotia at Shahpur.

Veteran leader Vidya Stokes entered the assembly for the eighth time after she defeated BJP's Rakesh Verma by 4,276 votes at Theog.

"It is definitely a convincing victory for us and for the party as well. The people of Himachal Pradesh have shown faith in the Congress party and we will fulfil our promises and ensure development," Asha Kumari, who won by the highest number of votes among the women candidates, said.

Few of the the other women candidates fared creditably by finishing second in their constituencies. BJP's Kumari Sheela, who contested from Solan, finished second behind Congress's Dhani Ram Shandil, while Congress's Anita Verma was second to Independent Rajinder Singh in Sujanpur.

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