Indian political system gives same powers and roles to the men and women irrespective of

their gender. India had Ms Indira Gandhi as the Prime Minister of the country for around 15
years. Many states had and have women Chief Ministers. The names of External Affairs
Minister Shrimati Sushma Swaraj, Lok Sabha Speaker Ms Sumitra Mahajan ,INC President
Ms Soniya Gandhi, Late Tamil Nadu CM Jayalalitha, West Bengal’s CM Mamta Bannerjee
,former Uttar Pradesh CM Sushri Mayawati , Present Rajasthan’s CM Ms Vasundhara Raje
Scindhiya ,don’t need any introduction. They had and have played prominent and decisive
role in the politics of modern India.

But when we do a reality check in the grassroots of the Indian political system we can easily
find the role of women is just restricted to a vote bank. Yes, the government has done various
measures towards this . The 73rd Constitutional Amendment Act (Statutory provisions for
Panchyat Raj as third level of administration in villages) and the 74th Constitutional
Amendment Act (Statutory provisions for Local Administrative bodies as third level of
administration in urban areas such as towns and cities) provide for 50% reservation in the
both the bodies . This has also given rise to the participation of women in the electoral
process, but most of the time the elected women representatives are puppets of their husbands
or other male member of the family.

The above picture seems gloomy, but various good aspects has also came out with the
increased participation of women . Last year in UP a 112 year old lady became Gram
Pradhan. We have many examples where many women have come forward and chosen a path
of development for themselves and the village as a whole. Ms Chavi Rajawat , Sarpanch of
Village soda, 60 km from Jaipur, Rajasthan is well known for her development works in the
village and especially for women . She left her corporate job to serve the village . And the
election of 22 year old jeans clad Ms Pooja Singh Nagar (who is an engineer by profession)
in Morena , Madhya Pradesh which is one of the orthodox areas of India. These women are
inspirations for the generations to come.

India has taken a great leap in the role of women in politics since Independence . But there
are still many areas where government and society need to transform and work a lot. The
number of women Member of Parliaments and Member of Legislative Assemblies is still
low. The Women Resrvation Bill for 33 % reservation for Women in Lok Sabha And State
Legislative Assemblies saw an outrage by all the main parties in the Parliament.

Women security, Female infanticide , low sex ratio, women illiteracy , higher maternity death
rates and many more problems are still a concern in 21st century India . It now depends on
the people of India and especially women to work for their upliftment and for taking decisive
participation in Indian politics.

PARTICIPATION OF WOMEN IN INDIAN POLITICS AND THE ROLE OF MEDIA

Shah Alam* Abstract: Political participation of women in any country gives an overview of
how women are treated in society. The development of any country also depends on the equal
participation of men and women. Since women’s presence is seemed to be low in Indian
politics, it is the duty of every human being to make them aware of their rights and motivate
them for participating in mainstream politics. The constitution of India not only guarantees
equality in society but also suggests states to make special provisions for women. Women
still are fighting for equal status in society. Because of their low representation in Indian
politics, their issues and problems are generally unseen and unnoticed. Their genuine
demands are not raised before the decisions makers. Women need be dependent to make their
own decisions. The media plays a significant role in determining how women in politics and
decision-making bodies are viewed and perceived by society in general. It does not only play
an important role in shaping the values of society but also reflects those values. It plays the
role of an informer, educator and a mediator for social change. To have strong democratic
governance, women’s equal participation is must and therefore their contribution to this
processes needs to be analyzed in the appropriate context by the media. There cannot be a
real democracy if the voices and issues of women that constitute half the population of the
country are ignored or sidelined. This paper analyzes the role of media about women’s
participation in national politics and also analyzes whether or not women’s voices and issues
are articulated to the public as matters of importance. Keywords: Participation,
Empowerment, Obstacles, Decision Making, Media. *Research Scholar, Centre for Women’s
Studies, Aligarh Muslim University, Aligarh (India) International Journal of Advanced
Research in ISSN: 2278-6236 Management and Social Sciences Impact Factor: 4.400 Vol. 4 |
No. 1 | January 2015 www.garph.co.uk IJARMSS | 78 WOMEN IN INDIAN POLITICS: AN
OVERVIEW ‘It is very difficult for a woman to make up her mind to enter politics. Once she
makes up her own mind, then she has to prepare her husband, and her children, and her
family. Once she has overcome all these obstacles and applies for the ticket, then the male
aspirants against whom she is applying makeup all sorts of stories about her. And after all
this, when her name goes to the party bosses, they do not select her name because they fear
losing that seat.’ The above quote of Sushma Swaraj (Union External Affairs Minister) gives
a glimpse of reality that how women have to face so many problems and criticisms while
entering the politics. India, being the largest democratic country in the world has very low
representation of women in politics. Lesser women are seen in holding key positions and
decision making positions in the political arena. The marginalization of Indian women in
politics is as old as the Indian society. Their low representation in political sphere is one of
the main reasons for the exclusion of the interests of women in governance and development
paradigms. They have been kept aside from political discourse since their childhood. Men
and women have always equally shared their dedication towards the development of the
nation. They have worked shoulder to shoulder with their male counterparts in pre
independent as well as post independent India. Contribution of Rani Laxmi Bai, Durga Bai
Deshmukh, Savitribai Phule, Sarojini Naidu, Annie Besant, Madam Bhikaji Cama, Begum
Hazrat Mahal, Aruna Asaf Ali, Kasturba Gandhi, Kamala Nehru, Vijaylaxmi Pandit, Sucheta
Kriplani. Padmaja Naidu , Kalpana Dutta, Raj Kumari Amrit Kaur, Kamaladevi
Chattopadhyay, Sister Nivedita, Margaret Nobel , Mira Alphonse, Meera Behn, Sarla Bhen,
etc. in the Indian freedom struggle is highly noticiable. But their work was always kept
unnoticed. Women’s participation in politics of any country gives a strong message globally
not only in terms of equality and freedom of liberty but also in the space provided for women
in the democratic framework of electoral politics. India has one of the strongest laws that
provide women a life with full honor and dignity. But the customs, patriarchal set ups and
societal norms have always treated them as subordinate to men. They are always taught to be
submissive. Because of unequal distribution of resources, women do not have adequate
resources, be it economic, material or human. Women are expected to work in private sphere
only and are generally barred from working outside their homes. Their financial dependence over
men also keeps them away from strong political affiliations. The policies generally are made as
gender blind because of male dominance over policy framing. Keeping women away from public
sphere brings lack of political will amongst themselves. Because of patriarchal set up and male
dominance over political parties, women do get chances of contesting elections. The parties do not
engage and encourage women in its decision making policies while finalizing their contestants.
Women coming from less privileged background, without any political cleavage by virtue of birth,
marriage or other close relative political cleavage have to face molestation and sexual harassment
like situations. Because of the fear of harassment or violence, they do not show their full interest in
political activities. It is the need of the hour in a country like India to have equal participation of
women in mainstream political activity. Society needs to deconstruct the stereotype of women as
limited to household activities only. The nature of society has a crucial impact on the extent and
effectiveness of women’s political participation. Their low representation in decision making
institutions signifies deep flaws in the political structure of country. Historical, social and cultural
factors have restricted women from enjoying their rights of participation in political processes.
OBSTACLES IN WOMEN’S POLITICAL PARTICIPATION Illiteracy is one of the main hurdles in making
women as politically empowered. Because of lack of understanding they do not know about their
basic and political rights. The parties not only discriminate in terms of seat allotments in the
elections, but also in the party ranks. Patriarchal context of India is also the reason for non
involvement of women in the political arena. There are many reasons which are restricting women
from being politically active. These reasons include the existing societal value system, the private-
public divide in terms of domain identification and male preponderance in political institutions.
Because of their low proportion in inner political party structure of India, they are failed to gather
resources and support for nurturing their political constituencies. Women do not get adequate
financial support from the political parties to contest the elections. Traditional roles assigned to
them are also major constraints in women’s political participation. Because of International Journal
of Advanced Research in ISSN: 2278-6236 Management and Social Sciences Impact Factor: 4.400 Vol.
4 | No. 1 | January 2015 www.garph.co.uk IJARMSS | 80 unequal distribution of resources or lack of
resources and lack of education, they do not avail sufficient political training. Societal and cultural
norms imposed on women bar them from entering politics. They have to accept the dictats imposed
on them and bear the burden of society. They also bear their deprivation and undermining status
thinking as a culture of the society. The society is full of prejudices and a victim of lack and poor
awareness. Lack of participation of women in community based activities is also one of the major
constraints. Almost all the resources are controlled by the male counterparts. Women do not have
any say in these resources. They also do not own income generating opportunities. Poverty is also a
great challenge in realizing women’s political participation. The girl child in a poor family is the main
victim and has to face many problems. The rate of school drop outs is also found to be
comparatively higher in case of women. Because of the social and cultural norms, women’s mindset
is developed in a sense to accept that they are of a lower class than men because this has been the
point of view of many in the society. On the one hand, women’s literacy rate is improving. But on
the other, rare women are found in higher studies because they are made to leave the schools
immediately after completing their basic studies. Caste system or class structure prevalent in society
is also a big hurdle. Women of lower caste could not attend schools because of the low level of
income of their families. These women got themselves indulged in less paying work to take care of
their families. Mostly women in India do not own lands and properties. They even hardly get any
share in their parent’s property. Women not only have lack of awareness about their rights
enshrined in India constitution but also the lack of political will. Women’s low health status in the
country is also a major constraint in women’s participation. There is a bias in the access of
healthcare facilities in the country. Gender discrimination in case of health care facilities also begins
before birth. Most of the girl children are aborted because of son preference in the family. Once
born, daughters are deprived of getting those feeding services as boys do. Women are also viewed
as less privileged due to marriage obligations and dowry systems. Hospitals are also termed to be
gender biased as men are found more in visiting hospitals more frequently than women.

Women are as ever underrepresented in the election fray and in party

structures, but in many ways, most of them qualitative, they have never been as
important as they are today.

What may be more significant in terms of political power than the proportion of women
fighting the Lok Sabha polls is the importance of women in inner party structures. Here
women are by and large even less represented, in all parties. Only in the All In dia Anna
Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (AIADMK) has there been a conscious move to bring many
more women into decision-making levels and posts within the party.

In most parties, the women members are by and large thin on the ground if not invisible in
the actual decision-making bodies and rarely influence the more significant party policies.
Most often, indeed, they are relegated to the "women's wing" of the par ty, and made to
concentrate on what are seen as specifically "women's issues" such as dowry and rape cases,
and occasionally on more general concerns like price rise which are seen to affect especially
"housewives".

Despite all this, only the foolhardy would suggest that women are unimportant in Indian
politics today. In many ways, most of them qualitative, they have never been as important as
they are today. This is most evident in the proliferation of women leader s and in the fact that,
even though some of them may head parties that are relatively small in the national context,
they simply cannot be ignored.

WHAT is even more significant is that in many cases these women leaders have not emerged
through the familiar South Asian paradigm of dynastic advantage. Sonia Gandhi, obviously,
is a clear example of a dynastic leader, with an almost iconic relevance, b ut in fact in this
respect she is in the minority among women leaders today. Thus, Jayalalitha and Mayawati
may have originally based their rise in politics on their proximity to particular male leaders,
but they are clearly now significant leaders in th eir own right, who can influence not only the
decisions of their own parties but even the course of national politics. Mamata Banerjee,
despite or indeed because of her controversial nature, is the leader of a party who can claim to
have got where she is on her own, without male assistance in any of the more obvious ways.

Of course, one myth that is easily exploded by the role played by such women leaders is that
political leadership by women is dramatically different from that by men. Nor is it necessarily
more colourful, as some of the more extravagant male politicians like Laloo Prasad Yadav
can establish.

Indeed, the truth is that most of our women political leaders are no better or worse than men,
and in fact a bit of reflection would indicate that this is only to be expected. In fact, nor have
women leaders been typically anxious to give greater represe ntation to other women within
their own organisations or in the political process generally. Of course, the most prominent
woman to have been in post-Independence politics - Indira Gandhi - was an especially clear
example of this.

BUT there is one interesting question that is thrown up by this relatively new development in
Indian politics. What is it that makes the political system receptive to the emergence and even
dominance of certain women leaders, even as it continues to supp ress the voices of ordinary
women as party workers and citizens? Why is it that in terms of qualitative impact and media
prominence women leaders are suddenly up front as never before? Clearly, the answer is not
to be found in any dilution of the male ch auvinism which runs deep in Indian politics. If
anything, the campaign process so far has indicated a resurgence of patriarchy which has
been exploited by those arguing both in favour of and against particular women candidates.
Thus, for example, men hav e castigated women candidates (and one in particular) for being
no more than housewives and doing no more for the country than bearing children. Such
remarks are breathtaking both in their ignorance of the many complex demands of household
management, ch ild-bearing and child-rearing, and in their implicit assumption that male
public activities necessarily do a lot "for the country". But several women candidates have
just as eagerly presented themselves as "bahus" or "betis", therefore relying quite as much on
traditional patriarchal notions of femininity and what criteria make women fit for political
life.

What does seem to be the case is that - barring striking exceptions where dynastic charisma is
seen to matter more than anything else - most women politicians have found it difficult to rise
within party hierarchies, and have managed to achieve clear lea dership only when they have
effectively broken out and set up parties on their own. Jayalalitha and Mamata Banerjee are
clear examples of this, but there are other less well-known instances as well. Yet once these
women become established as leaders, ano ther peculiarly Indian characteristic seems to
dominate - that is the unquestioning acceptance by the (largely male) party rank and file of
the leader's decisions.

What all this suggests, therefore, is that the political empowerment of women not only still
has a long way to go, but finally may not have all that much to do with the periodic carnivals
of Indian electoral democracy. This is not to say that the elector al representation of women is
unimportant, but rather that it needs to be both deeper and wider than its current
manifestation in the form of the prominence of a few conspicuous women leaders.
Role of Women in Indian Politics

The ink-stained polls of the world's largest democracy have delivered their verdict and India
waits with bated breath to learn whether Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's second
administration will be different than the first. While India exults after yet another peacefully
concluded election, one question remains: What is the role of women in Indian politics? The
answer is both big and small. Typical of India, it contains contradictions.

On one hand, India falls in the lowest quartile with respect to the number of women in
parliment (9.1%,14th loksabha). Even Rawanda (56.7%), south Africa (44.5%), Mozambique
(34.8%) and many others have much more women representatives, according to the UN's
2008 survey of women in politics. That said the recently concluded 15th Lok Sabha elections
have delivered a record 59 women as members of Parliament, the highest since
independence, raising their parliamentary participation to 10.7%.

Seventeen of these women are under 40. And representation of women leaders at the
grassroots level in India is nearly 50%, especially since the passing of the 73rd amendment of
1992, which allotted one-third of all seats to women. The panchayati raj, that bedrock of rural
government, has fostered more and more women participants and leaders. (A panchayat is a
five-person elected village council.)

Some states, like Karnataka, had inducted women into rural politics even before it was
mandated by the constitution. Several states, including Madhya Pradesh, Himachal Pradesh,
Bihar and most recently, Uttarkhand, have allotted not just the required 33% of panchayat
seats for women but increased it to 50%.

Hullabaloo over the participation of women is made over the Constitution (84th Amendment)
Bill relating to women's reservation since from 1998.The problem of Indian politics is that
reservation is made for women but women are not included in these policies. The country's
ruling party Congress, led by a woman and supposedly pushing for reservation for women till
recently had 10 per cent of women among the candidates announced so far.

For the BJP the proportion of women candidates is even lower at 7 per cent. Even in the case
of the Communist Party of India (Marxist), only 7 per cent of the candidates are women. It is
not that women are not provided major work in politics but most often, indeed, they are
relegated to the "women's wing" of the party, and made to concentrate on what are seen as
specifically "women's issues" such as dowry and rape cases, and occasionally on more
general concerns like price rise which are seen to affect especially "housewives".

Women leaders can be classified broadly into two groups

Pallu groups or dynastic groups (Sonia Gandhi,Vasundhara Raje Scindhia, Amma, Rabri
Devi,Sheila dixit) having family ties.

Hysterical group: Mamta, Mayawati, Sushma Swaraj, Uma Bharti In this is broad
generalization some have been left like Krishna tirath etc.

Among the Pallu groups the name which is most revered or has became synonymous with
Indian politics is Sonia Gandhi ,leaving her most of other pallu group members aren't able to
set their foothold ,this also clear by example of Vadsundhra Raje who has been made
scapegoat after the loss of BJP in state assembly and lok sabha elections.Also Amma and
Rabri are craving for power.

Talking of hysterical group on one hand Mayawati stands out clear winner as a women who
relies on vote bank of dalits , and is CM of most populated state of country . Conversely,
some like Mamta Banerjee are never able to outgrow their rebel image and have become
more or less a relic in the changed political situation. The most interesting thing is that the
Pallu group is no pushover. Sushma Swaraj is like is Rahul dravid of Indian team who never
got what they deserved but ,still she also showed her immaturity in politics when she
"threatened to shave off her head if Sonia had became the PM?"
What does seem to be the case is that - barring striking exceptions where dynastic charisma is
seen to matter more than anything else - most women politicians have found it difficult to rise
within party hierarchies, and have managed to achieve clear leadership only when they have
effectively broken out and set up parties on their own.

Yet once these women become established as leaders, another peculiarly Indian characteristic
seems to dominate - that is the unquestioning acceptance by the (largely male) party rank and
file of the leader's decisions. One thing that is missing here is the name of a woman from
rural areas or from a general house .But why is it so …? Reason is that general housewife
focus on three issues: healthcare, education, and the funds to make these two things happen.

Future of Women Politicians

That brings us to the larger question — the future of women politicians in India. Is it too
much of a coincidence that the women who really do well in politics are only those who head
political parties? After all, can anybody dictate terms to the Bahujan Samaj Party chief
Mayawati or the AIADMK supreme, J.Jayalalithaa, or Trinamool Congress chief Mamata
Banerjee? As for Ms Sonia Gandhi, well, she runs nothing less than a political empire where
the Congress Party is concerned!

If we take other parties, particularly in the Hindi heartland, it will take a lot of effort to even
recall the names of prominent women politicians. A woman playing a prominent role in
Mulayam Singh's Samajwadi Party? Forget it. Lalu Prasad's RJD got a woman chief minister
in the form of Rabri Devi for very obvious reasons — when Lalu faced corruption charges
and had to step down, he could trust none other than his wife Rabri.
That she did not even know the ABC of politics mattered. The lack of both education and
political training of any sort was clearly evident in the kind of language she used and the
charges she made against the Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar during the Lok Sabha
election campaign. Ms Jaya Jaitley's tryst with the Janata Dal (U) was a passing phase and
she has faded into oblivion. Today the party is led by Mr Sharad Yadav, famous for his
balkati quote.

Such obnoxious comments are not generally forgotten but for those with a short memory, Mr
Yadav had protested against women's reservation in legislatures by saying that if this was
done, the legislatures would be dominated only by the balkati or women with short hair!
Answer to such comment should be given in the way as thatcher did : I don't mind how much
my ministers talk," baroness Margaret Thatcher once said, "as long as they do what I
say.(uk's former pm)

Women empowerment

More and more entities are recognizing the power of micro-loans and how they can elevate
an entire segment of society. And the route to the underserved is frequently through women,
thanks to models based on Grameen Bank and others. Chennai-based Equitas, for instance,
only works with women. In March, The Indus Entrepreneurs (TiE) launched Shree Shakti, a
platform for training women entrepreneurs at all levels of Indian society.

Goldman Sachs's ambitious "10,000 Women" program aims to train and develop women
entrepreneurs across the globe by pairing them with resources in the West. In all these cases,
women serve as the lynchpin for programs, whether they are rural Self Help Groups (SHG) or
global programs that aspire to foster entrepreneurship.

The good news, at least in India, is that these microfinance initiatives are reaching bigger
swathes of the underserved. The Indian School of Microfinance for Women (ISMW), for
instance, goes one step deeper into the problem. Based in Ahmedabad and chaired by social
activist and SEWA founder Ela Bhatt, the school recognizes that borrowing money is only
one part of the triangle.

Among other things, the school teaches women how to deal with the money they borrow
through capacity building workshops, networking and providing knowledge resources.
Simply put, it takes Goldman Sachs's global vision for women entrepreneurs and translates it
into a deeper regional focus. The school's website lists 'hand-holding' as one of its goals.
Participants of micro-credit schemes are taught financial planning and investing techniques
that they can use on the ground and in their business.