• The term ‘political participation’ encompasses the right to vote, involvement in decision-making, political activism, and political consciousness.

• Women in India vote, contest elections, and join political parties, yet their participation remains lower than men.

• Political activism and voting are the strongest areas of women’s political participation.

• To address gender inequality, the Indian Government has implemented reservations for women in local governments.

• In India’s parliamentary general elections, women’s voter turnout was 65.63%, slightly lower than 67.09% for men.

• Despite progress, India ranks 143 out of 185 countries in women’s representation in Parliament.

• Indian women have achieved key political milestones, including serving as President, Prime Minister, and Chief Ministers.

• For decades, women have been elected to state legislative assemblies and the national parliament.

Constitutional Rights of Women

• The Constitution of India establishes a parliamentary system of government and guarantees citizens’ rights such as the right to be elected, freedom of speech, freedom to assemble, form associations, and vote.

• It attempts to eliminate gender inequalities by banning discrimination based on sex and class, prohibiting human trafficking and forced labor, and reserving elected positions for women.

• The Government of India directed state and local governments to promote class and gender equality by ensuring equal pay, free legal aid, humane working conditions, maternity relief, right to work and education, and raising the standard of living.

• Women played a significant role during the Indian independence movement in the early 20th century.

• Post-independence, constitutional rights brought gender equality, but women’s political participation has historically remained low.

Female Participation

Voting

• The movement for women’s suffrage in India began in the early 1900s as part of a larger national movement.

• Under British colonial rule, most women and men lacked the right to vote, which changed after independence in 1947.

• In 1950, the Indian Constitution officially granted universal suffrage to both women and men, enshrined in Article 326.

• Before this, provincial legislatures had granted limited voting rights, starting with Madras in 1921, where voting was allowed only to property-owning men and women.

• The initial suffrage rights were based on literacy and property ownership, often including husband’s property, excluding the majority of Indians.

• After 1950, universal adult suffrage extended voting rights to all women, regardless of property or literacy.

• India follows a parliamentary system with Lok Sabha (lower house) and Rajya Sabha (upper house).

• Women’s participation in Lok Sabha elections was 46.63% in 1962 and rose to 58.60% in 1984, while men’s turnout was 63.31% in 1962 and 68.18% in 1984.

• The gender gap in voting narrowed from 16.7% in 1962 to 4.4% in 2009.

• Voter turnout for national elections has remained around 50–60% over the last 50 years.

• State elections show a growing trend in women’s participation, sometimes exceeding men’s turnout.

• In the 2012 Vidhan Sabha elections, Uttar Pradesh reported 58.82% to 60.29% women turnout.

• In 2013 assembly elections, women’s turnout was 47.4%, while men’s turnout was 52.5%.

• In 2013, Arunachal Pradesh, Goa, Kerala, Manipur, Meghalaya, Mizoram, Daman and Diu, and Puducherry reported higher female turnout than male.

• Women’s participation is increasing across both rich and poor states.

• The sex ratio of voters improved from 715 female voters per 1,000 males in the 1960s to 883 per 1,000 in the 2000s.

• The Election Commission of India (ECI) has increased voter turnout through cleaning electoral rolls and removing missing or deceased voters.

• The ECI promoted door-to-door voter registration, and in 2014, voters received photo ID cards with polling station details.

• ECI has conducted voter education and outreach in colleges and universities, especially targeting women.

• Improved security at polling stations has also encouraged greater women’s participation.