Book Review | Not Dole Dolls: Women Reward Schemes That Give Them Agency
Tewari underscores that women generally respond to policies that ease everyday burdens and strengthen family well-being
Indian women voters were once dismissed as the political clones of men and, thereby, insignificant. Today, the discourse has swung to another extreme, with elite commentators deriding them as “freebie-loving” recipients of welfare schemes. However, Ruhi Tewari’s new book is a timely intervention that cuts through such simplistic explanations. Drawing on two decades of on-ground election reporting, she examines what women actually seek, whom they reward and why. She blends reportage, interviews, case studies and data to probe the logic behind their choices. Rejecting the patronising claim that women voters are “bribed”, she argues that welfare benefits are valued only when they address real structural gaps — gaps that their privileged critics fail to recognise. Tewari points out that even when the partisan motivations are not altruistic but strategic, the outcome has strengthened women’s political agency.
Her book traces this evolution historically and marks certain milestones, such as the sympathy wave after Indira Gandhi’s assassination that caused a surge of female voters’ turnout; a similar surge after the 73rd and 74th Constitutional Amendments that ensured one-third seats for women in local bodies; the transformative role of MGNREGA that bestowed women with bargaining power and the watershed moment during 2019 LS election when the turnout of women voters exceeded their male counterpart for the first time. She also identifies the key figures who first recognised the women bloc as the prospective vote bank. The rise of women-centric politics led by M.G. Ramachandran, Jayalalithaa, N.T. Rama Rao and later followed by Nitish Kumar, Mamata Banerjee, Naveen Patnaik, and Arvind Kejriwal are discussed in detail. During the Modi era, schemes like Beti Bachao Beti Padhao, Ujjwala and rural sanitation cemented the centrality of women voters at both state and national levels.
Tewari underscores that women generally respond to policies that ease everyday burdens and strengthen family well-being. They are less likely than men to prioritise issues such as national or religious pride. However, this pattern shifts for women from marginalised communities. Muslim women vote through the lens of religio-political insecurity in response to the BJP’s majoritarian rhetoric. Dalit women navigate the intersection of caste and gender; their shift toward the BJP from the BSP occurred only when the former party adopted the narrative of dalit empowerment. For women who face layered oppressions, caste and religion continue to shape political behaviour. With expanded media access and information flows, women are increasingly distinguishing between state and Central responsibilities, switching preferences across Lok Sabha and Assembly elections.
Tewari concludes by highlighting the persistent paradox: Women voters have gained visibility and influence, but women’s representation as legislators remains dismally low, which highlights the importance of the execution of the recently passed bill reserving seats for them in the Parliament. Given the historical injustice they continue to face, it is a much-needed leg-up. Tewari warns that the current model of women-centric welfare is nearing saturation, and future political imagination must embrace policies that support not just survival but aspiration and upward mobility. The book serves as an urgent reminder for political actors and sceptical analysts alike that women are not mere dole dolls but thoughtful agents reshaping the democratic process.
What Women Want: Understanding the Female Voter in Modern India
By Ruhi Tewari
Juggernaut
pp. 272; Rs 599