The promise of greater political space for women, highlighted after the passage of the Nari Shakti Vandan Adhiniyam, appears far from reality in Kerala’s April 9 Assembly elections. The candidate lists released by political parties once again show limited representation for women.
Even though women make up more than half of the electorate in the state, their presence as candidates remains low. The situation underlines the continuing gap between women’s participation as voters and their representation in electoral politics.
The passing of the Nari Shakti Vandan Adhiniyam in Parliament in 2023 had created strong expectations among women leaders across party lines. Many believed it would encourage parties to field more women candidates.
President Droupadi Murmu had given assent to the Nari Shakti Vandan Bill in September 2023. Although the law will be implemented later, there was hope that political parties would voluntarily increase women’s participation in the current elections. However, the candidate lists suggest little change.
Across Kerala’s 140 Assembly constituencies, major political parties have fielded only a limited number of women candidates — CPI(M) 12, Congress 9, BJP 14 and CPI 5 — for the upcoming elections.
Notably, the Indian Union Muslim League (IUML), an important ally of the opposition UDF, has allotted two seats to women candidates for the first time in its history.
Congress MLA and Assembly poll candidate P C Vishnunath said the party leadership made sincere efforts to increase women’s representation in the candidate list this time.
"In my personal opinion, capable women leaders should get electoral representation even without the support of any reservation or Act. But unfortunately, it is not happening every time as the leadership considers various factors, including winnability," he added.
While the BJP projected the Nari Shakti Vandan Adhiniyam as proof of the Modi government’s commitment to women empowerment, the CPI(M) alleged that raising the issue now is a political strategy ahead of the Assembly elections.
Senior CPI (M) leader and All India Democratic Women’s Association (AIDWA) national secretary P K Sreemathi expressed disappointment over the limited number of seats given to women by various parties.
"The CPI (M) ensured 12 seats for women this time, and the LDF in total gave 18 seats for them. This is not at all enough. We have been making strong interventions to increase the seats of women. But we usually get only this much when the candidate list is prepared," she said.
The former minister added that the situation in the CPI(M) and the LDF is comparatively better, as they provide more opportunities to women candidates than other major political parties.
Sreemathi also questioned the Union government’s decision to highlight the Nari Shakti Vandan Adhiniyam again at a time when Assembly elections are scheduled in five states.
"If they are not going to implement it now, why is the government speaking about it at this time? It is just to influence women in the poll-bound states," she alleged.
Congress Rajya Sabha MP and Mahila Congress state president Jebi Mather said reservation has played a crucial role in improving women’s participation in the civic elections.
"In Kerala the representation of women in LSGD elections is even up to 54 per cent. Otherwise, getting this much participation for women in an election is next to impossible. That is the reality," she said.
Mather also said there is uncertainty over when the Centre will implement the Nari Shakti Vandan Act, accusing the BJP-led government of focusing on “headline management.” She, however, avoided commenting on the lower number of seats allotted to women by the Congress.
BJP Kasaragod district president and Assembly poll candidate M L Ashwini said the BJP-NDA provides reasonable representation to women in elections as well as in party leadership roles.
"The Nari Shakti Vandan Adhiniyam is the latest example of the pro-women stand being adopted by the BJP and Narendra Modi government. The former Congress-headed UPA government has done nothing like this for women," she added. She added that five district presidents of the BJP in Kerala are women, reflecting the party’s emphasis on leadership opportunities for women.
Political analyst G Gopakumar said that despite continuous demands for higher representation of women in Assemblies and Parliament, political parties still hesitate to provide adequate space in candidate lists.
"The continued patriarchy among the political leadership reminds us about the need for women reservation in the Parliament and in the state legislature. However, we cannot expect an organic transformation from the leaders of political parties," he added.
He said the Constitutional Amendment providing 33 per cent reservation for women in Parliament and state legislatures has therefore become essential.
Historical data also shows the continuing imbalance. Since the formation of the Kerala Assembly in 1957, women’s representation has never crossed the 10 per cent mark.
According to Election Commission figures, Kerala has 1,39,21,868 female voters compared to 1,32,20,811 male voters.
Also read: Kerala CM defends his ‘chettatharam’ remark against Sudhakaran
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