Hyderabad: The shocking incident of men belonging to the Opposition party thrashing a BJP party woman in West Bengal who came to file her nomination for the panchayat elections, may likely push back women participation in elections. Already, representation of women in state Assemblies is low, as per the data provided by the government of India. In the two Telugu speaking states, representation of women in state Assemblies is less even to this day. In the 2014 Legislative Assembly, in AP, out of 175 seats, only 20 women contested and won, while in Telangana, out of the 119 seats only nine women contested and won in the elections.
Both together constitute less than 10 per cent of the total number of seats. But, AP has the highest percentage of women members in the State Legislative Council at nine per cent, four per cent higher than the all-India average of five per cent. Analysis from the data shows that in the elections held during 2013 to 2017 for various State Legislative Assemblies, The highest percentage of women representation is 14 per cent (in Bihar, Haryana and Rajasthan). On average at an all-India level, in 2017, nine per cent of the State Assembly members and five per cent of the State Council members were women.
Congress Kodad (assembly constituency in Nalgonda district) MLA, Ms Nalamada Padmavathi Reddy, said, “A high number of women Legislative Assembly members can be elected only if a large number of women choose to participate in the elections. Elections are a male bastion is a myth, women need to consider it important to be a part of the government’s decision-making. In case they don’t make it to the elections, one can be part of the Legislative Assembly committees like finance, environment and medicine. Women can also be a part of the government-related frameworks.”
States where women’s participation is high
Bihar, Harayana, Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, West Bengal
Least participation
Arunachal Pradesh
Jammu & Kashmir
Karnataka
Manipur
Zero participation
Mizoram
Nagaland
Participation in the 2014 legislative Assembly
TS: 119 seats
110- men
9-women
AP: 175 seats
155-men
20-women
Note: Statistics according to the government of India
