“They Want To Show Us Our ‘Place’. We Will Continue To Show Up” Shahida Banu Takes Head-On Patriarchal Mores

In one such incident, one of Banu’s only three banners was torn down in one of the villages just two days before the election. In another, the ex-president, whose wife was also contesting for the office and eventually won, personally paid a visit to ‘request’ her and her husband to suspend their campaign.

“Firstly, it’s my right to contest, and it is not like anybody is doing anything for us,” Banu remarked firmly. “We had asked the last president to build a concrete road in our village as the area fills with water every monsoon season. It creates health risks and limits access to other parts of the panchayat, especially schools and hospitals. But our voices have been ignored for years now. One will have to stand up for oneself.”  

The excessive influence of party politics and the influx of huge amounts of money in panchayat election campaigns has ‘spoilt the whole environment, said the  older men of the community, who feel that people are intimidated to vote in a certain manner. ‘Where is the question of fair and free elections? Especially when there is unequal access to resources,’ they say.

These men believe that reservations are important to ensure women’s political participation. “We are happy to see more and more women entering the political scene. Else, there is no other way women can participate with so much dirty politics being played and men still occupying seats, holding on to power, and doing nothing,” they added.