BJP's Women Representation Lags Behind Modi's 'Naari Shakti' Claims
Despite Women's Reservation Bill Passage, BJP's Female Candidates Fall Short of Promised Representation
The BJP's selection of candidates for the Lok Sabha elections does not yet represent Prime Minister Narendra Modi's much-hyped claim of boosting "naari shakti" (women power), especially in light of the adoption of the Women's Reservation Bill in Parliament.
Just 67 of the 417 candidates that the BJP has announced so far are women, making up just over 16 per cent of the overall field of candidates. This is less than half of the 33% reservation that the Bill promised for the Lok Sabha and Assemblies.
Parliament passed the Women's Reservation Bill in 2023, giving women one-third reserved seats in the Lok Sabha and Assemblies. The Bill delays the implementation of the reservation until 2029 by requiring it to be completed following a census and delimitation exercise.
But Modi has been touting the Bill's passage—which had been shelved for decades—and claiming credit for it in an attempt to win over female voters. Taking advantage of Rahul Gandhi's recent statement that "Modi is a mask who works for a shakti," he played to the gallery, accusing the INDIA bloc of pledging to "destroy Shakti" and emphasizing that "mothers and sisters" were "embodiment of Shakti."
Following the end of his Bharat Jodo Nyay Yatra, Rahul spoke at a rally in Mumbai's Shivaji Park. He stated that income tax, electronic voting machines, the ED, and the CBI are all necessary for Prime Minister Narendra Modi to win the Lok Sabha elections. "We are not fighting Modi on a personal basis. Modi is a shakti (power)-serving mask. Rahul had stated, "He doesn't have a 56-inch chest and is a shallow man."
Even while the BJP has fielded more female candidates than in the previous Lok Sabha elections, the percentage still falls well short of the promised 33%. The BJP fielded 55 women candidates in 2019, making up 12.61 percent of the total, compared to just 8.88 percent in 2014.
The party has demonstrated an improvement in accepting and fielding Opposition defectors, notwithstanding its inability to advance women into mainstream politics.
Based on available data, around 116 out of the 417 candidates are turncoats, making up 28% of the whole field this year. Additionally, the Congress makes up the majority of the defectors. Since Modi took office in 2014, the BJP has been actively pursuing candidates. However, in the run-up to the Lok Sabha elections, the BJP appears to be increasing its aggressiveness as opposition party leaders are endorsing it on a near-daily basis.
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