The Shifting Balance of Power

In 1991, she was elected vice-chairman of the Block Development Committee in Solan. On a ‘reserved’ seat. Four years later, she was elected pradhan of Salogra village, in the ‘open’ cate-gory; they call it a ‘purush seat’ (male seat) in local parlance. Sheela repeat-ed her feat again, five years later: by becoming the pradhan of Seri village, in the same district. The slugfest, this time too, was for an open seat. More recently, in December 2005, Sheela was elected to the zila parishad, one of the six women in a field of 17 men in the Salogra ward.

Says this BJP activist who aspires to become a MLA in the next state elections two years from now: “The Bill is one of the best things to happen to women in India. Because it’s the only way you can inspire our sisters to come forward and take things in their own hands in a male-dominated society.”

Sheela’s achievement in the area is remarkable not just because she managed to stand apart in an all-men field. What is more worthy is the fact that she has managed to win twice on a purush seat. Says she: “I think I have given the women of the villages here a reason to hope in life. With me as their sarpanch, it was easier for them to approach me than go to a man. How many women do you see attending panchayats otherwise?

That is the difference I have brought about. It is not an exaggeration if I say that today women are more inter-ested in attending the panchayat meetings than men because they know that the panches will hear what they have to say. I call it empower-ment in the real sense.” But does her presence alienate men from the panchayat? “Certainly not,” says Sheela, adding: “I am not against men at all. Even men in my village credit me for stopping a num- ber of malpractices. I don’t ask for a bottle of liquor to do anybody’s work.

I carry a stamp in my pocket and do things according to the merit of the matter. That has irked a number of other sarpanch hopefuls. For them, it is almost the end of the road: they know that once these villagers get a taste of what clean governance is all about, there will always be a woman sarpanch in the area. The truth is that no man wants women to excel. We women have to fight many things, and a man’s ego is one of the biggest hurdles in letting us come up in life.”

After fighting for roads connect-ing the village to the city and electric-ity, Sheela says her next aim is to campaign for more representation for women in politics. “These villagers know that I am clean and I am not seeking anything for myself. And then I don’t have a husband who runs a proxy power centre for me. Let there be reservation at the MLA and MP level and see the difference. Why is there no such thing? Because no minister wants to relinquish his post.

“Don’t give us 33 per cent reser-vation if you cannot. Give us 15 per-cent instead. And I promise you that we will reach the 50 percent mark in the open category on our own.” That’s the promise she’s making to her villagers as well. For now, she is waiting for two more years, and wants her party to give her a ticket to fight for the Assembly. “I have promised them bigger things. It’s my vision for my people.”

BOBBY JOHN VARKEY in Solan