Delhi has had only 4 women cabinet ministers since 1993

NEW DELHI: There have been only four women cabinet ministers in the city since 1993. The four cabinet ministers in Delhi were— BJP’S Purnima Sethi (1998), the Congress’ Krishna Tirath (19982001) and Kiran Walia (2008-13) and the AAP’S Rakhi Birla (2013-14). While Delhi is among the only three states in the country, with Tamil Nadu and Uttar Pradesh, which have seen two women chief ministers, its score on the count for cabinet ministers remains low. Of the top three political parties in Delhi—the AAP, the BJP and the Congress— the Congress has had the maximum number of women cabinet ministers as well as a long-serving woman CM.

On Sunday, while Kejriwal matched late Sheila Dikshit’s record by swearing-in for the third time as CM, Dikshit continues to be Delhi’s longest-serving chief minister.

The capital has seen a total of seven assembly elections, including the recently concluded polls.

Of the three Arvind Kejriwal cabinets, including the one that took oath on Sunday, only one AAP woman MLA, Rakhi Birla, was the cabinet minister for women and child development, social welfare and languages between December 28, 2013, and February 14, 2014.

The representation of women has been low not only in the state cabinet, but also in the Delhi Assembly. 39 women have been elected to the Delhi Assembly between the first election in 1993 and the just concluded 2020 polls. In the Lok Sabha, women representation from Delhi has been low, with eight of the 17 Lok Sabha elections sending only one woman MP from the city’s seven parliamentary constituencies.