NEW DELHI, 6 December 2003 — In a first for male-dominated Indian politics, three key Hindi-speaking hinterland states will be ruled by women following this week’s assembly polls — a former queen, a fiery Hindu nun and a veteran politician.

Analysts yesterday predicted, however, their successes would do little to dispel the image that women make unvinnable electoral candidates.

The ruling Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) had fielded two women — former royal Vasundhara Raje Scindia and fiery Hindu nun Uma Bharati — in the two huge Hindi heartland states of Rajasthan and Madhya Pradesh, respectively.

They headed their party’s state chapters and were pitted against males from the main opposition Congress party in polls Monday, seen as a barometer of political support ahead of parliamentary elections due before October.

In New Delhi, the Congress party’s sitting Chief Minister Sheila Dixit easily staved off a challenge from a determined BJP.

All three women won by fairly large margins in the constituencies where they contested, as well as led their parties to huge victories in their respective states.

Political analysts Mahesh Rangarajan and Pran Chopra agreed the victories of three women in contests for chief minister was a record in Indian politics.

But Chopra said this was unlikely to dispel the image of women not being “winnable” assets.”

“Parties are still reluctant to nominate women ... the success of Scindia, Bharati and Dixit does not as yet certify the capacity of the average woman to win.

“The perception that the average male candidate is considered stronger has not yet been demolished,” he said.

For both the Congress and the BJP — which say they want one-third of the seats in the national Parliament and state legislatures reserved for women — female candidates made up only nine percent of the total nominated for Monday’s polls.

But the Economic Times newspapers said the victories of the three in states associated with child marriage, killing young brides for bringing in too little dowry and female infanticide was “significant.” It singled out Bharati’s triumph as special since she “overcame the twin handicaps of gender and an unprivileged background” to oust the suave former royal and Congress Chief Minister Digvijay Singh in Madhya Pradesh.

According to the paper, Bharati is a school-dropout, compared to Dixit and Scindia, who have had the privilege of good schooling and college.

According to Rangarajan, the triumphs of Dixit, Scindia and Bharati also had to do with “women becoming much more active in the electoral system.”

“In Rajasthan for instance, prima facie it seems rural women voted for the BJP, which definitely sends out a message that women are the ones most affected by issues like health, sanitation, water, etc,” he said.

“Traditionally women were Congress voters,” he added.

With the election of Scindia, Dixit and Bharati, India has five women chief ministers at present ruling over about 300 million people.

India has had only one woman prime minister, Indira Gandhi.