As India wrapped up the second phase of its gargantuan Lok Sabha elections, flash drives with many videos of graphic sexual violence began to appear across Karnataka. The Member of Parliament (MP) from Hassan, Prajwal Revanna, fled the country after these videos emerged and he was credibly accused of harassing and assaulting multiple women. Opposition parties, with the Congress leading the charge, rightfully criticised the Bharatiya Janata Party’s alleged tolerance for sexual abuse among its ranks and among its allies, including Mr. Prajwal’s Janata Dal (Secular) Party. At the same time, the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) — and specifically AAP leader and Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal’s personal assistant — was accused of assault, by the AAP MP, Swati Maliwal. Despite the prevalence of violence against women, no one has proposed real solutions to address the societal and legal structures that normalise this cruelty across the political spectrum.
This may seem striking given the prominence that women’s issues have played out in the electoral messages of parties. The Trinamool Congress (TMC) takes pride in the women who lead the party. West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee is one of the rare women to have reached the top layer of politics, free from the influence of any male relative. When the Indian Parliament passed a Bill to reserve a third of seats for women, the TMC bragged that a third of its parliamentarians were already women. The Indian National Congress included radical proposals in its manifesto for the general election, the ‘Nyay Patra’, which included the principle of ‘Same Work, Same Wages’, free menstrual products in public spaces, and a promise of gender equity in government positions. The Bharatiya Janata Party, with Narendra Modi leading the charge, evoked ‘Nari Shakti’ to tout record job opportunities for women.
Falling short
And, yet, while women took centre stage in the rhetoric of the general election, there were very few women driving the agendas of these elections. Only 11 women of the 77 Ministers in the Modi government, only two held cabinet positions. On the other side, only two of the leaders of the over 35 parties in the INDIA bloc, were women, and both parties declined seat-sharing agreements in the alliance. At an INDIA bloc meeting in March, Mehbooba Mufti was the only woman to speak. In an INDIA bloc rally in April, in response to the arrest of Mr. Kejriwal, more women appeared, on stage and in speaking roles. Of the four women who spoke, two were the wives of Chief Ministers who had been arrested, Mr. Kejriwal’s wife, Sunita Kejriwal, and Kalpana Soren, whose husband, Hemant Soren, had been forced to resign from his post as Chief Minister of Jharkhand before his arrest in early 2024.
No conversations
The lack of women in leadership positions across the Indian political landscape translates to a real absence of feminist policies that deliver justice for women and create meaningful strides towards gender equity. Even now, as Opposition parties used various allegations of sexual abuse and gender-based violence to win political points, very few leaders demanded or led calls for legal justice for the affected women. There were, and are, no deeper conversations about the normalisation of sexual violence in India or an interrogation of how the current legal structures tolerate (if not reward) sexual violence. The Congress, for all its radical proposals, fielded very few women, Uttar Pradesh being an example. In such a male-dominated party, there is no guarantee that its promises to women are anything more than lip service to half the country.
If there were more women in politics, and driving the political conversation, Indian women would not be props to win political battles. Instead, women would force Indians to address sexual violence and other issues that women face. The key parties would propose transformative changes to women’s lives rather than propose quick fixes to address women’s needs.
Examples from the West
More women in power is better for everyone. In western democracies, as in Finland, Spain, and Canada, women-led cabinets have transformed the decision-making processes in these countries. In all three countries, feminism is infused in governance, from addressing gender-based violence inclusively, to defence and foreign policy priorities to sports.
But Indian women do not have to actually look to the West to see how more women in positions of power can substantially improve the lives of women. When the Indian government passed a constitutional amendment to require that a third of panchayat positions be filled by women, Raghabendra Chattopadhyay and Esther Duflo studied how this gender-based reservation system affected the decision-making processes in West Bengal panchayats. They observed that when more women are involved in decision-making processes, panchayats would invest in infrastructure projects, such as water sanitation projects, that directly reduce drudgery for women and improve life outcomes for an entire community.
The women’s reservation Bill
While the women’s reservation Bill, in its various forms, has enjoyed support across the political spectrum, Opposition parties have criticised the long timeline for the Bill’s implementation as well as the lack of guarantees for Muslim women and women from certain caste-oppressed communities. Even if the Bill addresses the Opposition’s concerns, political parties and parliamentary leaders will need to ensure that women are given a chance to independently drive political agendas. If more women are given meaningful power, India’s political culture will transform, and Parliament will willingly tackle the issues that face women today. All politicians will be more well-equipped to talk to women about their needs, including the role of the Indian government in addressing gender-based violence, rather than treating them as victims of violence with paternalism or opportunism.
At the end of day, whatever Indian male politicians say about women’s power matters little until they willingly step aside and let women take over the reins of power at all levels. Until then, nothing will suffice, and Indian women will be underserved. Indian women deserve the democracy they were promised. And the only way to do that is to put them in charge.
Ria Chakrabarty is Senior Policy Director, Hindus for Human Rights
