Yet again, too few women in parliament
Months after parliament passed the Women’s Reservation Bill, which provides for 33 per cent reservation for women in legislatures, the newly elected Lok Sabha has fallen far short. All parties are wanting in their commitment to the cause of women. The 18th Lok Sabha has only 74 women members, four short of their strength in the last Lok Sabha. That means only 13 per cent of its members are women. The fact is that women make up 48 per cent of the electorate. Out of 8,360 candidates who contested elections only 10 per cent were women. There were no women candidates in 155 constituencies.
The BJP fielded 69 women, of whom 32 won. The Congress had a total of 41 women candidates of whom 13 won. The TMC has the best score. As many as 11 of its 12 women candidates were elected and they make up 38 per cent of the party’s 29 total MPs. The improvement in women’s representation in parliament has been slow, from 4.4 per cent in 1952 to 13 per cent now. Women have made better progress in other walks of life but politics has not been friendly to them. Even among those elected, there is a preponderance of MPs from political families and films. There should be more women career politicians who contest as politicians, and not as dynasts, screen favourites, or candidates who enjoy a winning chance because of their reputation in other fields. There are not enough candidates and MPs when they are chosen on considerations other than giving genuine representation to women.
Politics is dominated by men who do not give space to women because of their patriarchal attitudes and also because they do not want to share power with women. But women’s engagement with elections has grown over the years. In this year’s Lok Sabha elections, the female turnout is equal to the male one at 66 per cent. Governments frame schemes for women and parties make special efforts to win women’s votes. Women are only considered a vote bank that should be appeased for the benefit of men in power. The Women’s Reservation Bill remains an empty gesture and it is doubtful if it will be implemented even in the next elections. Many other countries are far ahead of India in women’s parliamentary representation. About 46 per cent of MPs in South Africa, 35 per cent in the UK, and 29 per cent in the US are women. Real women’s empowerment will happen only when women are adequately represented in positions of legislative and political power.