Abstract

STUDY ON WOMEN PARTICIPATION IN POLITICS IN HARYANA

Dilipkumar Annasaheb Pawar

Volume: 3 Issue: 1 2013

Abstract:

These figures indicate that it was only in the Eighth Lok Sabha (i.e. after two decades of feminist struggle) that women’s representation reached an all-time high of 44 or 8.1% out of the total strength of a 544 member House. In all the earlier and subsequent Lok Sabhas, their representation have varied from 5.9 and 4.2% in the Fourth and Fifth Lok Sabha respectively to 5.3 in the Ninth Lok Sabha and 6.6 in the Tenth and Eleventh Lok Sabha. The Sixth Lok Sabha had a dismal record of women’s political participation, as there were only 3.4% women representatives in a 514 member House. Similarly, an examination of women’s voting patterns reveal the low turnout of women as voters. But the good news is that, the gender gap between the percentage of male and female voters is steadily declining (see table 2). Also the extent, nature and level of Indian women’s participation in electoral processes (as voters and election campaigners) is far greater than many other third world countries. Since 1989, this increase in the turnout of women voters could be attributed to the mobilization of the lower castes. Nevertheless, many studies also point out that the majority of women are not independent voters, they vote according to the wishes of the men in the family and they are not politically informed (Kaushik 1993:9).

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