Issue no.: 4 | June 2009

Through gendered Lens

Indian General Election 2009: An insight from women representation

It has been very aptly stated that, “however much the compilers of South Asian statistics on maternal mortality, female foeticide and ‘gender bias’ in South Asia might protest, the fact is that Sri Lanka, India, Pakistan and Bangladesh are all remarkable for having had elected women heads of state. South Asia definitely has had several prominent women politicians. However, women from grassroots have no political voice and are unable to reach decision-making positions in this region. Keeping this in mind, this article tries to scrutinize the Indian general election 2009 from the perspective of women representation.

India held general elections—the largest democratic election in the world—to the 15th Lok Sabha in five phases on 16 April, 22/23 April, 30 April, 7 May and 13 May 2009. The results of the election were announced on 16 May 2009. This election which was conducted by the Election Commission of India, estimates an electorate of 714 million voters, an increase of 43 million over the 2004 election. A record 59 women MPs have been elected to the new Lok Sabha - the highest since independence, and 17 of them are less than 40 years.A record 59 women were elected to the 15th Lok Sabha, with a majority - 23 - belonging to the Congress party alone.In this election, 556 women candidates were fielded by various parties.While the Congress topped the list, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) came second with 13 women being elected.The All India Trinamool Congress, Samajwadi Party and Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) follow with four women each getting elected to the Lok Sabha.The Janata Dal-United, Shiromani Akali Dal and Nationalist Congress Party have two women MPs each.The Telangana Rashtra Samiti, Rashtriya Lok Dal, Shiv Sena, DMK and Communist Party of India-Marxist (CPI-M) have one woman MP each, according to the statement.

In 2004, there were about 671 million registered voters in India, of whom approximately 322 million were female. The statistics for the 2004 general elections indicate that the turnout of women voters was nearly 54 percent while the turnout for men was 66 percent. These percentages are marginally less than the corresponding shares in the 1999 elections, where the turnout of women was 55.6 percent and that of men were 63.9 percent. In the last general elections in 2004, 174 women contested from recognized political parties, out of whom 45 won. With 45 elected representatives, the strength of women parliamentarians was less than 10 percent of the total strength of the Lower House which was 543.

In 1999, 284 women had contested the elections and 49 were elected. In the 2004 polls, 355 women contested the elections of whom 45 won. In 2009, 556 contested out of which 61 women won. Thus, the number of women contestants and the winning candidates in the recent election is higher than the previous elections. Nevertheless, though it may be an unprecedented number but it is far from equal representation for half the country's population.

Addressing the issues of women in Indian politics, it is necessary to refer to the concern of reservation of seats for women in Parliament. The much talked-about Bill intending to reserve 33 percent of seats for women has not taken off and can become a reality, maybe after the general election 2009. The Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD), one of the main political allies of the ruling United Progressive Alliance (UPA), and the Samajwadi Party have been the main stumbling blocks to the Bill. Both parties have made it clear that they would only support the Bill if it is modified to reserve part of the women’s quota for backward castes and minorities. However, the lack of progress on the legislation should not be attributed only to the regional parties. Indeed, national parties such as the Congress Party, the BJP and the Left have also been dragging their feet on the Bill. Had the three parties been unequivocally committed to the Bill, then it would have seen the light of the day as between the three of them, the parties have the requisite strength to pass the Bill.

Post verdict analysis of the elections in India reveals that wherever women candidates have been given tickets, they do well. Sometimes they are even better than their male counterparts. Thus, it may be stated that, it is not only important to amend constitution for gender-friendly politics but it is vital to give more tickets to women candidates as well.