An analytical study of women's representation in Indian politics: Special reference to loksabha elections 1952-2019

Women’s representation in India’s Politics is an important metric to evaluate progress in bridging gender inequities in the nation. India has a female population of 66.29 crore and is the largest and one of the most resilient parliamentary democracies in the world. As the country completes 75 years of independence, this research paper gives a historical account of the progress in women’s representation in Loksabha over the past decades. It compares women’s parliamentary representation with their share in legislative positions at the lower levels. It notes that despite impressive increase in turnout of women voters in elections, opening up spaces for participation of women in electoral politics has been a slow process as a result of deep-rooted structural constraints. It argues that institutional transformation, coupled with socio-economic emancipation holds the key to increased participation by women in electoral politics.