15% in Parliament to 0% in State Assemblies: Women in Politics

By: Damini Mehta

Of the 542 seats in the Lok Sabha, 78 are held by women, which is around 15 per cent. Whereas in the Rajya Sabha, which has a sanctioned strength of 250, just 24 women fill the house, standing at less than 10 per cent

On 21st September 2023, the Indian parliament made history in what was another step towards expanding the scope of democracy and representation across sections of the society. With the passage of the Women’s Reservation Bill, 2023, the country moved towards providing 33 per cent reservation to women in the Indian parliament and State assemblies. The November 2023 Assembly elections in the state are the first direct elections in the country after the passage of the bill and while the bill will come into force only after the completion of the next decadal census and subsequent delimitation, whether or not the political will behind this bill reflects in the elections makes for an interesting point.

Since the 2019 Lok Sabha elections, the number of women electors in India has witnessed an increase of 5.1 percent. This number, while small in its own right, is a notable improvement when compared to the 3.6 percent increase in male voters. Of the five states due for elections this month, Mizoram, Chhattisgarh and Madhya Pradesh have already gone to the ballot. In the 2018 Madhya Pradesh Assembly elections, women’s voter turnout was higher than male voter turnout on 52 seats of the total 230 seats. This time, the number fell to 32 seats where female voter turnout exceeded that of males. Overall, female turnout in the state was around 76 per cent, a jump of 2 per cent from 2018. Male voter turnout in the state increased by 2.4 per cent to 78.2 per cent.

In the case of Chattisgarh, as many as 50 of the state’s 90 seats saw more females voting compared to males in absolute numbers. However, the female voter turnout was higher than the male voter turnout in 27 constituencies of the state. This increase in the share of women electors and voters in both absolute and relative numbers is evident across states in India. Moreover, given the lower rate of voting in women in the initial years, the growth in female voter turnout is much larger compared to males in several states and doesn’t essentially reflect that more women are always voting.

In terms of representation, however, India still lags far behind in offering gender equality in the Parliament and State legislatures. While the number of women legislatures has increased, it is nowhere close to giving a respectable representation to a group that forms the largest cohort. Of the 542 seats in the Lok Sabha, 78 are held by women, which is around 15 per cent. Whereas in the Rajya Sabha, which has a sanctioned strength of 250, just 24 women fill the house, standing at less than 10 per cent.  When compared to the 1st Lok Sabha, representation of women has definitely increased from 5 per cent to 15 per cent however, it is nowhere close to the share of women in the total population at nearly 50 per cent.

In terms of state assemblies, as of September 2023, Chhattisgarh had the largest share of women legislatures as a percent of total legislatures at 18 per cent followed closely by Rajasthan at 14 per cent. Himachal Pradesh and Mizoram ranked the lowest with one and zero female MLAs to represent women in the respective State assemblies.

From offering Rs. 1,500 stipend to each female every month to LPG cylinders at Rs. 500, political parties are fighting tooth and nail in offering sops to attract women voters. In most cases, although the promises go well beyond social justice measures and fall largely into the territory of appeasement politics, they have been known to provide some form of financial support and agency to women. However, given the abysmal presence of women in legislatures, positions of power and decision making, a token increase in women voters and legislatures is hardly enough to give women the agency they need.