True to his word, Biju Janata Dal (BJD) president and Odisha chief minister Naveen Patnaik has given 33 per cent reservation to women while distributing party tickets for the 21 Lok Sabha seats.

Naveen, a champion of women’s cause, has been campaigning for 33 per cent reservation for the members of the fair sex in state Assemblies as well as Parliament across the country.

The chief minister has been carrying forward the legacy of his father Biju Patnaik, who was twice the chief minister of the state. Biju Babu was the first chief minister to accord 33 percent reservation to women in Panchayati raj institutions. Later Naveen enhanced it to 50 percent in the panchayat and urban local polls in 2012.

In the 2019 election, too, Naveen had given tickets to 33 per cent women candidates in the Lok Sabha. Among them was septuagenarian Pramila Bisoyi who contested and won from Aska, the seat with which Naveen had made his debut in the Lok Sabha in 1997. Women, whose empowerment remains one of the focus areas for the Naveen government, have been the most loyal voters of the BJD.

Highlighting the importance of women, Naveen said: “The mothers, who take the entire responsibility of their families, have no problem in taking the responsibility of the society as well as the country. There is a spark of leadership in each mother. It’s our responsibility to give them the opportunity to showcase their leadership qualities. We need to utilize their leadership qualities in the inclusive development of the nation.”

The BJD has kept women in focus right from the beginning. “Biju Janata Dal is the only party in the country which has been giving tickets to 33 per cent women in elections. Other parties should follow its example,” said a party leader, adding that the regional party would continue to raise women-related issues at every possible platform including Lok Sabha, Rajya Sabha and the state Assembly.

“This should serve as a reminder for national parties to make good their promises for women,” he said.

The women candidates who have been given the Lok Sabha tickets are Ranjita Sahu (Aska) Sarmishta Sethi (Jajpur), Rajshree Mallik ( Jagatsinghpur), Manjulata Mandal (Bhadrak), Parinita Mishra (Bargarh), Kausalya Hikaka (Koraput) and Lekhashree Samantsinghar (Balasore).

The Naveen government’s drive for women’s empowerment began with the creation of Mission Shakti in 2001 with focus on organising the members of the fair sex in financially remunerative activities. This is being done through women self-help groups.

The Bharatiya Janata Party, the main Opposition party in the state, has complained to the Election Commission that BJD is using women self-help groups to promote its political interests.

Of the 147 members in the Odisha Assembly, there are 18 women members. Of the 18 members, 17 are from Biju Janata Dal and one from BJP. For the Assembly election, the BJD has so far given 21 tickets to the fair sex to contest the election. Other parties — BJP and Congress — are yet to declare their full candidate lists.