The Congress party has been vociferously supporting the women's reservation bill, but when it comes to distribution of tickets, its own record is pathetically dismal.

For the 40 assembly seats from Braj Prant comprising divisions of Agra and Aligarh, only 13 female candidates have been put up by the four main political parties.

Six women candidates get the tickets from Agra division and seven from Aligarh division. Aligarh has four districts, Etah, Mahamaya Nagar (Hathras), Aligarh city, and Kanshi Ram Nagar, while Agra division comprises districts of Agra, Mathura, Firozabad and Mainpuri.

"They talk of giving 33 and 50 percent reservation to women, but when it comes to sharing political power, their actions are grossly unfair to the fair sex," says senior media person Anshu Pareek.

The Bhartiya Janata Party has put up four female candidates from Jasrana in Firozabad, Iglas in Aligarh, Hathras and Jalesar, while the Samajwadi Party has given tickets to Hemlata Kushwaha and Pakshalika Singh in Agra, and Begum Zeenat Khan in Kanshi Ram Nagar. Congress has fielded Urmila Yadav from Karhal in Mainpuri and Vasu Yadav from Patiali seat.

The Bahujan Samaj Party has given two seats to women in Agra division and two in Aligarh division.

From Vrindavan Pushpa Sharma and Mainpuri Sandhya Katheria will face tough contests, while in the Aligarh division, two seats from Etah and Khair go to females.

Shabana Khandelwal, national general secretary of All India Mahila Congress told Agratoday.in, "Its really painful and a disappointment for the women who have always supported Sonia Gandhi. Names had been forwarded but at the state level, someone struck off the names of women. After elections we will take up this issue, because the Congress is the only party which has been on the forefront of women's rights and has consistently supported the women's reservation bill. This tendency is a reflection of male-dominated politics in our society."

Many other women leaders have similarly expressed deep anguish and frustration at the "gender bias," in electoral politics.

Agra mayor Anjula Singh Mahaur told Agratoday.in, "they (men) are scared of women and that is the reason tickets have not been given in fair numbers to the fair sex. The political imbalance is clear and heavily tilted against women. If we come to power we will always think of the prosperity and growth of the society, just like we run families. Look at Jayalalitha, Mamta, Maya, Sheila Dixit. They are all doing so well. Had these parties particularly those who have been championing the cause of women's reservation given more tickets to women, it would have definitely helped improve political culture. But obviously the males are dead scared of women and don’t want them to move ahead."