Women are not just voters and beneficiaries: Increasing women’s representation in politics requires rethinking women as leaders and decision-makers.
Last September, the passage of the Women’s Quota Bill in Parliament raised hopes of a more gender-equal parliament. The near-unanimous support for the bill, which promises 33 percent quota for women in the lower house and state assemblies, seemed to signal politicians finally embracing an idea whose time has come. However, eight months on, and with the 18th Lok Sabha due to meet for the first time in a few weeks, the number of women in the Lok Sabha has fallen to 73 out of 543 members in the 17th Lok Sabha, down from a record 78. Clearly, more work needs to be done to move away from the male-dominated mindset that continues to dominate politics.
Since the 1991 general elections, when the gap in voter turnout between men and women began to narrow, women’s influence in politics has only grown larger and deeper. Even in recent elections, the number of women voting has fallen in some phases, but the overall gender gap has been negligible, with the Election Commission estimating the turnout for both men and women at around 66 percent. Women are using the power that their participation gives them to influence election outcomes, and even political parties have recognized the growing importance of the “women’s vote.” This recognition has primarily taken the form of targeted welfare schemes that are often at the center of election campaigns, including the recent Lok Sabha elections. In West Bengal, for example, the popularity of women-centric schemes such as Lakshmi Bhandar, which provides monthly cash transfers to over 20 million women, is believed to have helped the ruling TMC maintain its dominance. Previously, Raadri Beena’s influence was seen to play a role in the BJP’s return to power in the Madhya Pradesh assembly elections.
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But for women to have a real impact in politics, a nation’s political imagination needs to embrace and accept the idea of women leaders and decision-makers, rather than viewing women only as voters and beneficiaries. Other countries can show the way. Mexico, which this week elected its first female president, Claudia Scheinbaum, has made rapid progress in gender equality by introducing quotas for women at all levels of politics, including at the ticket distribution stage. Countries with the highest levels of female political representation, such as Norway, Sweden, Denmark and the Netherlands, have adopted other types of affirmative action. For example, Swedish political parties have adopted a “zipper system,” whereby men and women alternate on candidate lists. For India, the Women’s Reservation Bill is neither the beginning nor the end of the road to gender equality in politics, but just one of many milestones to come.
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First uploaded: August 6, 2024 6:50 AM
