Authors: Akshat Sogani, Arun Sudarsan, Manas Pathak, Sohinee Thakurta, Teesta Shukla
Published: April–June 2024
The number of women electors and their share of participation has been increasing steadily in Indian elections. In the 2019 general elections, the polling percentage among women electors was 67.2%, only marginally lower than the national average of 67.4%. Political parties have also been targeting women electors with promises specifically aimed at them. Meanwhile, the Parliament of India in 2023 passed the 128th Constitutional Amendment Bill, 2023, or the Nari Shakti Vandan Adhiniyam, which reserved 33% of directly elected seats to the Lok Sabha and state legislatures, for women. The reservation of seats will be effective after the next delimitation exercise, scheduled to be held after 2026.
To shed light on the role and participation of women in the General Elections 2024, TQH is publishing a four-part series of factsheets. We analyse the number and share of “Women Electors” in Part #1, “Women Candidates” in Part #2, “Women in Manifestos,” covering key promises for women by different parties qualitatively in Part #3, and lastly, voter turnout among women and any other significant trends observed during polling in Part #4.
You can find the factsheets in this series below: