Plan ahead to improve women’s representation
New Indian ExpressThere are few surprises in candidate selection for this Lok Sabha election. Most of the women in the fray today are daughters, wives, sisters or daughters-in-law of party leaders, anointed to continue the family business, tutored and dictated to by male family members. This election’s series of unsavoury remarks—from women deemed fit only for the kitchen, and certain candidates needing an extra peg, to some being led astray—only reveals that the male mindset is yet to accept the challenge women pose. The 16th Lok Sabha had 61 women members out of 545 and the 17th had 78; it remains to be seen if the 18th Lok Sabha will improve the score. The Women’s Reservation Act 2023, which sets aside 33 percent of the seats in the Lok Sabha, assembly and local bodies for women, remains a chimera until the delimitation process is carried out a few years hence.