The previous assembly election in Jharkhand, in 2019, saw 10 women elected as MLAs, marking an increase over 2009 and 2014, when 8 women registered a win. Every assembly election since 2009 has marked a slight uptick in the participation of women in Jharkhand: While 107 of 1,491 candidates (7.2%) were women in 2009, the number was 111 of 1,136 (9.8%) candidates in 2014. In 2019, 127 out of 1,216 candidates (10.44%) were women.
Roughly 82% of the women candidates lost their deposits in 2019, down from 88% in 2009.
Some of the prominent women MLAs include Sita Soren, who has won the Jama seat since 2009 on a Jharkhand Mukti Morcha (JMM) ticket. Daughter-in-law of JMM patriarch Shibu Soren, Sita Soren shifted to the BJP earlier this year. She is the widow of Shibu Soren’s elder son Durga Soren, who played a key role in the statehood movement, and claims she and her daughters were sidelined by the party and the family after his death in 2009. Sita will be contesting the upcoming Jharkhand assembly election on a BJP ticket.
Also on the BJP list this time is two-term former MLA Geeta Koda (aka Kora), the wife of former CM Madhu Koda, who has been convicted in a coal scam case. Both Geeta and Madhu Koda are also former MPs from the Lok Sabha constituency of Singhbhum, Jharkhand. Geeta has been fielded from Jaganathpur.
Other two-term women MLAs are Neera Yadav (BJP, Kodarma, 2009-2019), Menaka Sardar (BJP, Potka, 2009-2019), and Vimla Pradhan (BJP, Simdega, 2009-2019).
Yadav is also among the BJP’s candidates for the upcoming elections.
Jharkhand is set to elect its next assembly in a two-phase election scheduled for November 13 and November 20. Results will be declared on November 23.
