Women Legislators in Indian Politics

The question of women’s participation in political processes and decision-making bodies forms a key concern of the women’s movement in India. An analysis of the democratic system and representation of various sections of population therein reveals that women lag way behind men. Many studies show that women politicians face problems in their political life totally unknown to their male counterparts. This book presents the study of women legislators of Uttar Pradesh focusing on five main areas; the social profile of women legislators, the routes they have taken to get to their political position, their role performance, the policy areas in which they were involved, the issues they raise in the assembly and their social and cultural barriers to participate in politics. The book is a longitudinal study of 50 years of women legislators in UP covering right from first elections in 1952 after independence to the latest (fourteenth) elections in 2002. A majority of the women legislators, the study reveals, have political family background and belong to educated and economically well off families. However, due to their low numerical strength, the women’s participation in discussions and assembly proceedings has been very low. This raises the serious question about women’s reservation in the highest political bodies as more and more women will come from the political strong families. The participation of women from grassroots is lacking, therefore, the need to be brought in from grassroots level and given position of power in the decision making process.