New Delhi: A report on ‘Political Participation and Representation of Women in India’ released by the Association for Democratic Reforms (ADR) to mark International Women’s Day on Sunday highlighted that of the 4,666 MPs/MLAs in the country, only 464 or 10 per cent are women.Analysis by ADR and National Election Watch (NEW) shows that 74 (14%) of the 543 members of the 18th Lok Sabha are women. As many as 22 states and union territories have women legislators. The only large state without a woman MP is Kerala.West Bengal has the highest number of women MPs (11), followed by Uttar Pradesh, Maharashtra (7 each) and Madhya Pradesh (6).Among political parties, the BJP has the highest number of women MPs (31), followed by the Congress (13) and the Trinamool Congress (11). The analysis shows that only national and state parties managed to get their female candidates elected. No female candidate from any unrecognized party or independent female candidate won the election.Of the country’s 4,123 MLAs, 390 (9%) are women. Among state and union territory assemblies, Uttar Pradesh has the highest number of women MLAs (47), followed by West Bengal (40), Bihar (29) and Madhya Pradesh (27). The BJP has the highest number of women MPs (163), followed by the Congress (59) and the Trinamool Congress (34).Regarding the status of women’s political participation in India, the report emphasizes that the number of women participating in elections has increased significantly over the past few decades. In the 1957 Lok Sabha polls, there were only 45 women candidates. During the 18th Lok Sabha elections, this number soared to 800, indicating the increasing willingness and opportunities for women to participate in politics as political candidates.In addition, women’s representation in legislative bodies has gradually increased. In the Lok Sabha, the number of female representatives was 22 (5%) in 1951 and increased to 74 (14%) in 2024.At the local level, women have a more prominent presence. In 2022, the total number of female representatives in local self-government bodies reached 1,375,914, accounting for 44%.The Women’s Reservation Bill 2023 (“Nari Shakti Vandan Adhiniyam”) was passed in September 2023. The bill provides for 33% (one-third) female reservation in the Lok Sabha, State Legislative Assemblies and Delhi Assembly. However, its implementation will come after the census and delimitation exercise. Against this backdrop, the report claims that “the timely conduct of the census planned for 2026-27 is critical for the implementation of the Act by 2029.“
