Fewer women MLAs than last two decades

CHENNAI: The 16th Assembly in Tamil Nadu, a State known for its social justice and progressive policies, will see a fewer number of women representatives, 15, than in the previous Assembly.

The outgoing Assembly had 21 women MLAs including the then Chief Minister late Jayalalithaa in 2016 but this election saw the number of women legislators coming down to 15. Despite all the major political parties in the State supporting the 33 per cent reservation for women in the Parliament and Legislative Houses, the women representation in the Assembly has come down to six per cent from nine per cent in 2016.

Political observers attribute this to the limited number of seats allotted to women by the major parties. AIADMK, which contested 171 seats nominated 14 women candidates and the DMK, which contested 173 seats, fielded 12 women candidates.

TN Assembly had only twice had women representation of over 10 per cent of its total strength of 234. The highest was in 1991 when it had 32 women MLAs (13 per cent). The second highest was in 2001 with 24 women legislators (10 per cent). A woman DMK leader, on condition of anonymity, said unless the women reservation bill is passed, the situation will remain the same. She demanded that the BJP, which enjoys a majority in both Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha should go ahead and pass the bill.

“Unlike the previous Congress-led UPA government, which depended on its allies’ support, the BJP used its majority to bulldoze several legislations in the Parliament. Why is it not taking up the Women Reservation Bill? They should pass it as they had supported it in the past,” she said.

AIDWA state general secretary P Suganthi said she was disappointed over the results with only a few women getting elected. “Tamil Nadu is the land of Periyar and progressive ideals. But, sadly, the number of women legislations are coming down over the years. Even the major parties allotted fewer seats to women candidates than in previous elections. Women enter politics despite facing various social stigma but the parties were citing various reasons to deny them proper representation,” she said, adding the passage of the long-delayed Women Reservation bill could put an end to this.