A gram panchayat election in Kerala is a classic case of just how many centuries India lives in simultaneously.
Get this. The Communist Party of India which is supposed to be anti-feudal, has told a young man to marry a woman so that it can fulfill a promise made to his father about giving the young man a party ticket for the panchayat elections.
Gram panchayat elections in Kerala are to be held in November and VR Rajesh of Neduvathoor village is busy killing two birds with one stone – inviting people for his wedding, while simultaneously canvassing for votes.
Neduvathoor gram panchayat is a Communist Party of India stronghold and the party appears to be of the view that it will win regardless of who the candidate is.
The party had promised Rajendran, a local farmers’ leader, that his son Rajesh would be given the party ticket – unofficially of course – in the seat reserved for Scheduled Castes.
But when elections were announced, the party was in for a shock: the ward had been reserved for Scheduled Caste women.
The CPI had a brainwave: Rajesh's wife can contest the election. The idea then hit a roadblock: Rajesh is a bachelor. So, the logical conclusion along this train of thought was that he should find a wife.
Loyal foot soldier of the party that he is, Rajesh bent over backwards in his hurry to comply with the party’s diktat. “The party asked me to get married. My only condition to the prospective bride's parents was that she should be willing to contest elections," says Rajesh.
He has zeroed in on a woman named Mahija, and the pair is now going door to door to invite people for their wedding on October 19. They are also, of course, canvassing for votes for the bride-to-be.
The couple being interviewed by Asianet News
People are not marrying out of mutual love, respect, etc., women are not contesting elections for political participation, and the whole thing has come about because of a feudal promise made by a patriarchal party to the family patriarch. Women's reservation indeed.