The Women’s Reservation Bill was passed by the Lok Sabha on Wednesday for the first time with an overwhelming majority and will come up before the Raja Sabha on Thursday where it is expected to sail through as well.
But a big demand from the Opposition, led by Sonia Gandhi, has been to implement this reservation immediately, something that would be illegal without a fresh census and improper without a fresh delimitation.
The government has indicated that it will be a reality in 2029. But will the political parties walk the talk and voluntarily allot 33 per cent tickets to women in the upcoming parliamentary elections to show their sincerity to the cause they have been espousing for in Parliament?
This may not ensure that 33 per cent seats in the next Lok Sabha will have women MPs but at least a start will be made by fielding 1/3rd women amongst candidates by each party. In the 2019 Lok Sabha poll data, the irony can be seen. Of 8,048 candidates who contested the 543 Lok Sabha seats, only 726 were women candidates — just 9 per cent. In the most recent Karnataka state elections, of the 2,615 candidates in the fray, only 185 were women (7 per cent). In a 224-member Karnataka assembly now, just 10 are women (less than 5 per cent).
The story is similar in other recent state elections with parties giving few tickets to women. In the biggest state of Uttar Pradesh, which went to polls in 2022, of 4,442 candidates, 559 were women at 12.5 per cent. This slight uptick was due to Congress resolving to give 40 per cent tickets to women candidates though it had to struggle to find as many candidates and most lost. The assembly of 403 MLAs now has just 47 women (12 per cent). The fact remains that parties choose to give tickets in elections as per winnability and women do not get a fair deal.
While opposition parties are now criticising BJP for not enforcing the women’s reservation bill in the 2024 general elections, the fact remains that nothing stops them from voluntarily allotting 33 per cent or more of their tickets to women to give them a chance to win and increase the women proportion in the next Lok Sabha from the 15 per cent at present. Same holds good for fielding OBC women candidates as parties led by the Congress are demanding an OBC sub-quota within the women reservation pie. Will political parties walk the talk on it?
