From Promises of Welfare to Limited Representation, Political Parties Struggle to Truly Empower Women
With growing awareness and increasing literacy rates, women, who constitute almost half of the country’s population, are increasingly making their mark and making independent decisions, including political choices—unlike the earlier trend of following the diktats of male family members. No wonder various political parties are now competing to woo women voters.
These parties try to outdo each other by offering cash benefits, subsidies, and a variety of welfare schemes aimed at female voters, including initiatives like Ladli Behna, Lakhpati Didis, and the Mahalakshmi scheme. Promising monthly cash disbursements to women is the latest trend.
This focus on such schemes was first successfully implemented in Tamil Nadu, where former Chief Minister Jayalalithaa offered utensils and subsidized gas cylinders to women. It paid off for her party, and now all parties come up with special schemes for women on the eve of elections.
This trend confirms at least two major factors that weigh on political parties: first, they now recognize women voters as a substantial and influential vote bank, and second, a vast majority of women voters no longer follow the choices imposed upon them by men.
Empowering women is undoubtedly necessary, including providing productive facilities like low-interest loans. However, what most parties are doing is offering freebies. That’s neither good for the nation nor for women themselves. It does not add to their self-esteem or contribute to nation-building, but politicians seem more focused on gaining power by any means, fair or foul, rather than considering other implications.
The hypocrisy of political leaders and their parties is evident when it comes to the actual representation given to women when fielding candidates. At that point, the “winnability” factor becomes crucial, and very few women are selected to contest.
In the upcoming Maharashtra Assembly elections, both alliances—the Mahayuti alliance led by the BJP and the Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) led by the Congress—have announced a range of freebies for women.
The Mahayuti alliance has promised an increase in the monthly allowance under the Ladli Behen Yojana, while the MVA has assured a waiver of up to 100 units of power bills for households, Rs 3,000 under the Mahalakshmi scheme, free cervical cancer vaccination for girls, and two days of menstrual leave each month for government employees.
Yet, together, the two alliances have fielded just 56 women candidates out of a total of 288 assembly constituencies. This is slightly better than the previous elections, where all parties combined fielded just 46 women, but it remains grossly inadequate.
This is the reality on the ground, sharply contrasting with the unanimous support for a 33 per cent reservation for women in the Lok Sabha, for which a bill was passed in Parliament. These parties evidently do not wish to alienate female voters by opposing the legislation, but they hesitate when it comes to actual representation.
Clearly, these parties are eager to win women’s votes but are reluctant to empower them with greater representation. Despite all the rhetoric about the need to involve women in leadership roles, none of the parties have made significant efforts to prepare women for such positions.
Unfortunately, even in an advanced country like the United States of America, women are yet to break the glass ceiling in politics. The recent defeat of Kamala Harris is attributed to the fact that a vast majority of men voted in favor of Trump due to gender bias, believing that a woman was not suitable to become the President of the world’s most powerful country.
Earlier, Hillary Clinton also lost the presidential elections. In contrast, India has a better track record, having Indira Gandhi as the country’s first female Prime Minister. However, critics point out that she inherited the position from her father, the first Prime Minister of India.
At the national level, all major political parties continue to offer very limited representation to women in politics. It is time for political parties to walk the talk and genuinely work for the empowerment of women. 
Also Read: PREJUDICE IN POLICY
Vipin Pubby
The author, a freelance journalist, is a former Resident Editor of Indian Express, Chandigarh, and reported on the political developments in Jammu and Kashmir, North-Eastern India, Gujarat, Himachal Pradesh, Haryana and Punjab in his long, illustrious career.
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