Chandigarh, May 18 -- In the seven women-reserved wards of the Panchkula Municipal Corporation, male relatives or political colleagues of the candidates appeared to play a dominant role, overseeing campaign activities and responding to congratulatory messages from supporters and queries from mediapersons after registering victory. The women quota is meant to increase the role of women in the electoral process to empower them, but the reserved wards saw male leaders calling the shots and stealing the limelight. Out of the seven wards - 1, 2, 11, 15, 16, 18 and 19, four seats had candidates whose kin were former councillors. Wards 1, 2, 11 and 15 were for the general category while ward 16 was reserved for women from scheduled castes, and wards 18 and 19 for the backward classes-A & B. In ward 18, the winner was Amandeep Kaur but Sandeep Singh, a former councillor close to Amandeep's family, was the one to be garlanded. He stood in a jeep with male supporters during a victory rally but winner Amandeep Kaur didn't get a seat in the vehicle. After the announcement of results, Sandeep was the one answering all media queries. Sandeep Singh said, "I have a good experience in politics. Since the seat was reserved for women this time, our colleague Amandeep Kaur was fielded. She is like my sister. She is going to lead and I will be there to help her." Ward 1 winner Paramjeet Kaur's husband Narinder Pal Singh is a former councillor from the same ward. A dentist by profession, Kaur, a first time candidate with no prior political experience, said "I contested as the ward got reserved for women this time. My husband has worked day and night in the last five years so I didn't want his efforts to go in vain. I will be the decision-maker. He (spouse) will be there only if I am unavailable." Ward 15 winner Priyanka Kundlas, who runs a Common Service Centre, said she contested on behalf of her husband who was supposed to contest, but couldn't due to the seat getting the women quota tag. "I was not into politics. Now, I have developed interest and will try to solve public issues," she said. Manisha Rani, winner from ward 19, too is a first-timer. Her husband Ashish Jangra had in the past made it clear that he wanted to contest. Each female candidate on the result day was with a male mouthpiece but not vice versa. BJP's Nirmala Devi won from ward 16. Her husband Rakesh Kumar is the former councillor from the ward. Congress candidate Saraswati Devi lost in ward 15 that has seen her father-in-law Gautam Prasad as the councillor in the past. BJP's Panchkula district president Ajay Mittal said, "They shouldn't be termed proxy candidates. They have been working in their areas. Since their husbands or families have given them a chance to lead, they will learn something. Paramjeet Kaur of ward 2 has been BJP mahamantri. Anuradha Puri has been heading BJP's women wing in the area. Besides, councillors are going to work on local issues that women candidates already do." Prof Pampa Mukherjee, head of the political science department at Panjab University, said, "It's a paradox. Patriarchy has existed in our society for so long that it has been internalised. It is a socially embedded phenomenon implicated in politics. Women's reservation is affirmative action, but it needs to be implemented in a meaningful manner so that women can invoke their agency. It will enable them to make choices as per their own rationality rather than being guided by their male counterparts merely."...