The story so far:
W
omen’s relationship with electoral politics has undergone a profound transformation over the past six decades. Women today vote in numbers nearly equal to men, and in several State elections, even surpass them. Yet this remarkable rise in participation has not translated proportionately into representation or power. The Indian case presents a striking paradox: electoral inclusion without structural equality.
Women as voters
In the decades after Independence, electoral participation showed clear gender disparities. Although women were formally included in the electoral process, their turnout remained significantly lower than that of men. In the 1967 Lok Sabha election, male turnout was 66.7 percent while female turnout was 55.5 percent—a gap of 11.2 percentage points (Chart 1). Similar disparities continued into the 1970s. In 1971, the gap widened slightly to 11.8 points. These patterns reflected structural constraints such as lower female literacy, restricted mobility, domestic responsibilities, and limited political outreach to women.
