Sunita Duggal: Preferring quality over quantity

As a little schoolgirl, Sunita Duggal had attended a function that had a high-ranking government officer as a guest. So impressed was she with the attention that he got that she resolved to one day become a big officer with a batti waali gaadi (a car with a beacon).

Hisar girl Sunita eventually went on to join the Indian Revenue Service. But, after 20 years in bureaucracy, she took the political plunge. Today, at 51, she represents Sirsa in Parliament, happy that she got the Lotus to bloom for the first time in the constituency. She got over seven lakh votes—the margin between her and the runner-up was 3,09,928 votes—and is the only woman candidate to win in Haryana.

“Yes, it feels good,” she conceded. “But, I am not elated. It is just another day.” Her son and daughter were amazed at her lack of enthusiasm on May 23, the day of the results. “Show some excitement, at least,” they told her.

Sunita's campaign was not without controversy. The opposition complained that her husband, Rajesh, an IPS officer posted in Hisar, was influencing voters. So, he was transferred to the Special Task Force in Bhondsi. Even her brother, an IRS officer, was transferred. “The opposition tried, but could not stop me,” she says. Was it the BJP wave that won her the election? “It is a package deal,” she says. “The party was important, as was our charismatic prime minister. But, the candidate should be a good one, too. Only then is a thumping victory possible.”

Sunita says she was first noticed by the BJP for her work with the Ramakrishna Mission. She was promised a ticket in 2014, but the BJP later gave the seat to its then coalition partner, Haryana Janhit Congress. At the assembly elections six months later, she contested from Ratia, and lost by a mere 435 votes. She was later appointed as chair of Haryana Scheduled Caste Finance and Development Corporation.

Sunita has already decided her priorities as an MP. “My constituency borders Punjab, and is plagued by the same drug addiction problem,” she says. “It is disheartening to have attended so many funerals caused by drugs. Rehabilitation of the addicts and systems to prevent others from getting addicted will be my focus.” She is also keen to change stereotypes in Haryana. For instance, she says, the khaps are often portrayed as kangaroo courts with medieval mindsets, but “that is not entirely true”. “Khaps have played positive roles in resolving disputes, doing welfare work and weeding out practices like dowry,” she says. “They have played an important role in social projects like Beti Bachao, Beti Padhao. Instead of denouncing them, I feel that khap power can be harnessed effectively for social development.”

Being part of a Lok Sabha that has 14 per cent women, many of them first timers, is encouraging, she says. “However, I prefer quality over quantity. What the candidate brings to her job is more important than her getting the job,” she says. It is said that women are more sensitive, and therefore approach an issue differently from men. That might be true to an extent, says Sunita. But when you represent a constituency, you represent all its members, male and female. “Also, it is a blinkered approach to say you need women alone to understand women's issues,” she explains. “What we need are leaders who are sensitive to the issues, irrespective of their own gender. The best example of this is Narendra Modi himself. He has thought of women, and made it a national mission to improve their lives. So many of his schemes had women as beneficiaries.”

Sunita Duggal

Age 51

Party: BJP

Constituency: Sirsa (SC), Haryana

Vote share: 52.16%

Education: MSc chemistry