Women in the Lok Sabha: With fewer of them in House, burden of representation on woman MPs increases

TMC women MPs take selfies at the Parliament House complex during the first session of the 18th Lok Sabha. (PTI)

TMC women MPs take selfies at the Parliament House complex during the first session of the 18th Lok Sabha. (PTI)

Written by Sanjana Suchdev

While the number of women candidates for the Lok Sabha elections consistently increased in the last three parliamentary polls and the number of women MPs rose since 2014 — it declined marginally compared to 2019 — Election Commission (EC) data of the last three Lok Sabha elections show that the turnout of women voters this time was the lowest and that women parliamentarians now have to represent more women.

The 16th Lok Sabha (2014-’19) had 61 woman MPs. It jumped to 78 in 2019 and this time the figure has dropped to 74.

Women candidates

Across the 2014, 2019 and 2024 elections, there has been an upward trend in the number of women contesting, with 669 candidates in 2014, 725 in 2019, and 779 this year. However, three states have reported a consistent decline in women candidates – Uttar Pradesh (from 126 in 2014 to 79 in 2024), Assam (16 to 12), and Rajasthan (27 to 19).

Eight states have reported a consistent rise: Tamil Nadu (55 to 77), Delhi (13 to 24), West Bengal (51 to 72), Karnataka (20 to 42), Odisha (17 to 33), and Maharashtra (69 to 111).

Overall, the total number of candidates has increased in 14 states since 2014 and decreased in 18 states. While in 2014, women accounted for 8.1% of total candidates, in this election they comprised 9.5% of the candidates.

Consistent rise/decline in number of women candidates

Consistent rise/decline in number of women candidates

The BJP-led NDA fielded 91 women in the recent elections whereas the Opposition INDIA alliance fielded 97. From 58 candidates in 2014 to 73 in 2019, this is a steep rise for the NDA. It is a decline, however, for the INDIA bloc parties that had fielded 208 candidates in 2014 and 115 in 2019.

Women candidates from NDA and INDIA blocs

Women candidates from NDA and INDIA blocs

How many women do the MPs represent?

At present, each Lok Sabha MP represents an average of 26 lakh people. But women’s representation, that is the average female population represented by each woman MP, stands at 92 lakh. This is a jump from 2014 when a woman MP represented an average of 90 lakh women and 2019, when she represented 81 lakh women.

Compared to 2019, 17 states and UTs recorded a noticeable decline in women’s representation while only eight states and UTs reported a rise.

Number of women represented by a single woman Lok Sabha MP

Number of women represented by a single woman Lok Sabha MP

At present, 14 states and UTs have zero woman MPs in the Lok Sabha. Most of these states and UTs are small and have one or two seats, barring Jammu and Kashmir and Kerala. Kerala ranks the highest on female literacy and sex ratio but had only a single woman MP each in 2014 and 2019, despite 29, 24, and 24 candidates having contested the elections in 2014, 2019 and 2024, respectively. Of the states and UTs that do have women MPs, women’s representation for only Tripura (10 lakh) and Dadra and Nagar Haveli and Daman and Diu (4.5 lakh) is under an MP’s average representation (26 lakh).

Meanwhile, woman MPs in seven states and UTs represent over a crore women each. This figure is more than 1.5 crore in Uttar Pradesh (1.63 crore) and Assam (1.77 crore). While Assam has one woman MP from its 14 seats, Uttar Pradesh has seven across 80. In comparison, in the previous Lok Sabha, woman MPs in four states represented more than 1.5 crore women: Assam (1.68 crore), Kerala (1.82 crore), Telangana (1.85 crore), and Bihar (1.92 crore).

Women’s representation in certain states has significantly improved since 2014, when women MPs in eight states represented over 1 crore women each. In Karnataka and Rajasthan, one MP represented 3.11 crore and 3.49 crore women, respectively. This term, the three women MPs in Karnataka represent 1.12 crore women each while Rajasthan’s three women MPs represent 1.33 crore women each.

Voter turnout

The average women’s voter turnout in the recent election was 69.24%, the lowest across the last three elections. This is a drop of 2.13 percentage points from 71.37% in 2019 and even lower than the 2014 turnout of 71.14%. However, patterns across states vary.

From 2014 to 2019, 17 states and UTs reported a noticeable rise in women’s turnout and 13 states recorded a noticeable decline. Among them were Rajasthan (4.41 percentage points), Andhra Pradesh (5.46), Himachal Pradesh (8.86), and Madhya Pradesh (12.12).

Voter turnout of women in the last 3 Lok Sabha elections

Voter turnout of women in the last 3 Lok Sabha elections

However, from 2019 to 2024 only five states showed a marked rise in women’s turnout, among which the highest were in Jammu and Kashmir (12.71 percentage points) and Meghalaya (4.87). The data shows that 24 states and UTs exhibited a significant decline, including Nagaland (24.79 percentage points), Kerala (6.9), and Mizoram (6.73).

In J&K, a likely reason for the big increase in turnout is that this election was the first after the abrogation of Article 370. The drop in Nagaland and Manipur (5.41 percentage points) is potentially linked to the hopes for greater administrative autonomy in eastern Nagaland and the continuing conflict in Manipur. There were boycott calls in parts of Gujarat and Haryana too over demands for better infrastructure and both states saw women voter turnouts decline. While in Gujarat it declined by 4.34 percentage points, in Haryana it fell by 6.06 percentage points.

From 2014 to 2024, three states and UTs have shown a consistent rise in the number of women turning up to vote, namely Chhattisgarh (from 68.06% to 72.23%), Karnataka (65.76% to 70.16%) and Meghalaya (69.99% to 78.8%). However, 10 states and UTs exhibited a consistent decline across the three elections, such as Punjab (70.95% to 62.28%) and Nagaland (87.65% to 57.9%).

The writer is an intern with The Indian Express

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