Only 10 women in Haryana poll fray

CHANDIGARH: Haryana, notorious for its skewed sex ratio, is witnessing a similar fall in the number of women on another front - the Lok Sabha polls. Just 10 women are in the fray in the 10 Lok Sabha seats in the state, as per Election Commission data, with one sitting MP becoming a prominent contender.
This year's participation of women in polls is even less than the 2009 parliamentary elections when 14 women were in the fray.From zero participation in 1967, a year after Haryana was carved as a separate state, things have not improved much with mainstream parties still shying away from fielding women.
Shruti Choudhry of Congress, seeking re-election from Bhiwani-Mahendergarh, is a strong contender among all the women aspirants this year. Others contesting this time are Kusum Sherwal (INLD) from Ambala, Balwinder Kaur (AAP) from Kurukshetra, Kanta (Indian Bahujan Sandesh Party-Kanshiram) from Kurukshetra, Mamta Rani (Rashtrawadi Parivartan Party) from Hisar and Pooja (Independent) from Gurgaon.
In 2004, only eight women were in the fray, three in 1999, six in 1998, nine in 1996, six in 1991, three in 1989, 10 in 1984, five in 1980 and two in 1977.
Meanwhile, according to the 2011 Census, the overall sex ratio of Haryana stood at 879, with the lowest sex ratio reported from Gurgaon at 854, followed by Sonipat at 856 and Jhajjar at 862.