The Women’s Reservation Bill has been approved in Parliament, showing that reservation is beneficial for women and their constituents. Rajasthan has many examples of successful women leaders due to the quota for women in panchayat and civic elections. This quota has provided a new platform for candidates with no political background to enter politics and make a name for themselves.
One such woman is Kavita Joshi, who used to work as a hardware engineer but became a Sarpanch after the seat was reserved for women in the Shobhagpura Panchayat. The rule required candidates to have at least an eighth-grade education, which prevented established political families from participating in the elections. In this situation, Kavita’s family was approached by the villagers and asked to let her contest the elections, despite her lack of political connections. Kavita, who was pregnant at the time, decided to run for the sake of the villagers and even voted the day after giving birth. She won the election and became the first woman Sarpanch of Shobhagpura village. Her success led to her being appointed as the district president of the Mahila Morcha of BJP Udaipur.
Another notable woman is Chhavi Rajawat from Jaipur, who is the country’s first MBA Sarpanch. Chhavi left her job in a multinational company and gained recognition by being invited to participate in the game show KBC by Amitabh Bachchan.
