Elections bring equal representation opportunities for every Indian citizen. But 2024 elections highlighted the under-representation of women in politics.
As per an official data out of 8,337 representatives only 9.6% are women.
The bill that said to reserve one-third of seats for women still needs to be passed for promoting more women candidates participation.
As per the Association of Democratic Reforms, there are only 797 women candidates out of 8,337 in 2024 elections.
The phase 1 of elections saw 135 women candidates out of 1,618 candidates in total.
In election phase 2 there were 100 women out of 1,192 candidates. And in phase-3, 123 women out of 1,352 candidates.
The Phase 4 to 7 of elections saw 170, 82, 92 and 95 women candidates in the elections.
However, there is overall growth in women contesting in elections. From 3% in 1957 to 10% in 2024 elections.
Some major parties have women candidates. Such as BJP has 16% women candidates, Congress has 13%. JMM and BJD have 33%. RJD, SP and AITC have 29, 20 and 25% women.
There is still need for major work to encourage more women participation in Indian Politics and with big faces like Priyanka Gandhi and Smriti Irani these hopes are coming true.