Increasing women's representation in Maharashtra's electoral battles

The electoral battlefield in Maharashtra was charged as the remaining 13 constituencies voted to elect their representatives in the fifth and final phase of Lok Sabha Elections 2024 in the state The electoral battle this year was interesting owing to the vertical splits in two major parties in the stateIt is worth noting that in the battle for 48 seats in Maharashtra during Lok Sabha Elections only Baramati in Pune district witnessed a direct fight between two women candidatesmdashNCP SPrsquos Supriya Sule and her cousin Ajit Pawarrsquos wife Sunetra PawarIn recent years Maharashtrarsquos political landscape has seen a change with womenrsquos representation increasing at a steady pace In Lok Sabha Elections 2024 the two prominent alliancesmdashMaha Vikas Aghadi and Mahayutimdashhave in total nominated only 15 women candidates of which the Bharatiya Janata Party BJP has nominated six womenNumbers in previous yearsFrom Maharashtra in Lok Sabha Elections 2024 out of nearly 900 candidates contesting only 58 were women and only 5 had managed to win the elections The number did slightly go up in the following general electionsAccording to the data available in 2019 a total of 867 candidates contested the elections of which 80 were women Prominent political partiesmdashthen undividedmdashhad nominated only 11 candidates of which eight had secured a win including Sule who was fighting for a third term Interestingly the eight candidates all came from affluent families in the political arenaAlso Read Sanjay Nirupam joins Eknath Shindeled Sena Analysing the impact on Mumbais political landscapeWomenrsquos representationEven though the numbers have increased an expert noted that women in politics are not autonomousSpeaking to middaycom political analyst and the Head of Politics dept of Mumbai University Dr Deepak Pawar said that although more women are being fielded the reins are however in the hands of the menldquoAfter the 73rd and 74th amendments of the Indian Constitution the women leadership in Maharashtra developed Due to the statutory provision the women received 33 per cent reservation in politicsrdquo said PawarHe added that in the initial years the women leaders often came from affluent political families and once they were elected to power especially in local politics the reins remained in the hands of the menThis is what led to the coining of the term lsquoSarpanchPatirsquo husband of the sarpanch said PawarCiting the narrative surrounding Baramatirsquos battle Dr Deepak said ldquoEven when a threetime MP Supriya Sule was taking on the wife of Maharashtrarsquos Deputy Chief Minister Sunetra Pawar the narrative was that it is a battle between Sharad Pawar and nephew Ajit Even when Devendra Fadnavis tried to spin the narrative he said that it was a battle between Rahul Gandhi and Narendra Modi This shows that the space of women in politics is not autonomousrdquoElaborating further on the increase of the women leaders Dr Deepak said that after reservation for women was detailed more women supported movements like the womenrsquos liberation movement began entering politicsldquoWith the increasing participation the women understood that they must be on panels of the local governance institutions like gram panchayat zilla parishad etc It is now evident that there are at least 10 per cent of women elected representativesmdashwho if trained properly execute their duties wellrdquo he saidldquoThe amount of women leadership in Maharashtra politics does not go over 1015 per cent and most belong to political families in the state A similar pattern is visible in national politicsrdquo said Dr DeepakSamya Korde a young leader from Dharavi echoed similar thoughts about womenrsquos participation Korde who is campaigning for MVA candidates in Mumbai highlighted it is crucial to promote women leadersHailing MVA candidate Varsha Gaikwadrsquos candidacy she remarked ldquoVarsha Gaikwad who has served as a cabinet minister in Maharashtra is not just a woman leader but also a face of Dalit community It is important that leaders like her contest the Lok Sabha Elections 2024 which will further give opportunities for other women to participaterdquoElaborating on intersectional identities and their impact on women politicians Korde opined ldquoIf an organisation has inclusive policies women leaders from Dalit Bahujan Adivasi communities get electoral space and the community gets representationrdquoWhen asked about how she believes public perception impacts womenrsquos leadership she said ldquoWhen political parties promote womens leadership in some constituencies it makes space for the women voters to air their grievances without hesitationrdquoKorde added that seeing figures like them being represented also has a positive impact on voter turnout and womenrsquos participation in politicsPendency of implementation of the Womenrsquos Reservation BillldquoSince representation has an affirmative effect on womenrsquos participation the passing of the Womenrsquos Reservation Bill and its implementation was crucial Had it been implemented earlier it would have made way for more women in politics to contest the Lok Sabha Elections 2024 thereby leading to increased representation of womenrdquo Korde said while speaking on womens representation and the Womenrsquos Reservation BillWith the changes on a policy level more women who are not affiliated with affluent political parties will get a chance to participate in politics including electoral politicsDr Pawar while speaking on the same said that Indian men politicians do not want to forfeit their seats ldquoEven if they had to forfeit their seat they wish that the women from their family should be elected from the constituency The inference was deduced from the delay in implementation of the Womenrsquos Reservation Billrdquo he saidThe political analyst added that the leaders seemingly want to limit the presence of independent women leaders and if its unavoidable they look to marginalise or peripheralise the womenldquoEven if the number of women representatives in electoral politics has gone up it has not had a major impact until nowrdquo he addedShould political parties foster womens leadershipWhen asked about the political partiesrsquo role in fostering womens leadership in Maharashtra Dr Pawar said that the conditions have compelled them to look at women as a different constituent ldquoIn the last decade the parties have observed that women do not necessarily vote for the candidates as per the instructions of the men in their family Additionally increasing financial independence among women and discussions in the public domain on womenrsquos issues has bound the parties to pay attention to womenrdquo he noted and added that in case the parties do not take notice of it they risk losing a voter baseElectoral space given to women will increase when the Womenrsquos Reservation Bill is enacted as a law he addedHe added that if women donrsquot step out of proxy politics their representation will not be meaningful comprehensive or sustainedKorde when asked how political parties can contribute towards the development of more women political leaders voiced that the parties should not limit their contribution to womenrsquos wingsldquoThe Women politicians should be given leadership positions in other party constituents apart from the womenrsquos wing The youth are also politically involved and express their opinions through social media Such young women should be trained to create future leadersrdquo Korde said