JANAKPURDHAM, Jan 1: Chameli Devi Das of Laxminiya Rural Municipality of Dhanusha district had entered politics after being involved in the Madhes movement. She is going to be elected as a member of the provincial assembly under the Proportional Representation (PR) system.
Born in a farming family, her husband started dairy farming to support their children's education after she got into politics. With the full support of her husband, Chameli Devi could afford to give time to politics. In less than a decade of her involvement in politics, she got nominated to be a member of the provincial parliament under the PR category from Federal Socialist Forum Nepal (FSFN).
Women grab opportunities in politics
Bindu Yadav of FSFN and Biva Thakur of Rastriya Janata Party Nepal (RJPN), who identify themselves as activists of the Madhe movement, are also women political figures who came in the mainstream politics in a short time. Both of them have been nominated as provincial assembly members by their respective political parties under the PR category.
The country's constitution has made it mandatory to have at least 33 percent seats reserved for women in the upper house and the lower house. This provision has created opportunities for women in the county's male-dominated patriarchal society. Almost half the candidates selected for the provincial assembly from Dhanusha district are women.
After the country adopted the federal system, 14 lawmakers are being elected from Dhanusha district for the first provincial assembly in Province 2. From the district, eight lawmakers under the first-past-the-post (FPTP) category and six from the PR category are being elected from various political parties.
FSFN has the highest numbers of lawmakers in Dhanusha district. FSFN won five seats, Nepali Congress (NC) three, CPN-UML three, RJPN two while CPN (Maoist Center) won one seat in the provincial elections under the FPTP category.
Likewise, three lawmakers from FSFN, two from UML and one each from NC, Maoist Center and RJPN are being elected through the PR system.
