Delhi Elections: Women Voters Taking Control, But Female MLAs Still Missing

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Last Updated:January 18, 2025, 07:00 IST
In the three elections held between 1998 and 2008, the women voter turnout was 56% or less, but in the last three elections – 2013, 2015 and 2020 – the turnout has improved significantly and surpassed the 60-% mark
In 2020, the average women voter turnout was 62.51%. (AP file for representation)
The national capital is gearing up for electing its eighth assembly next month. In the past three decades, while the participation of women in elections has improved significantly, their representation in the assembly remains little more than mere lip service.
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In the three elections held between 1998 and 2008, the women voter turnout was 56% or less, but in the past three elections – 2013, 2015 and 2020 – the turnout has improved significantly and surpassed the 60% mark.
The voter turnout is the average number of voters who step out to vote on the polling day. A turnout of 60% means that out of every 100 voters, 60 came to the polling booths on the day of polling. The more voters at the polling booths, the higher the turnout.
Women’s share in total voters in the city and their participation has significantly improved, but the total number of women elected to the house remains in single digits.
There are three main political parties in Delhi – the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and Congress. These parties have supported the women’s reservation bill in Parliament in 2023. But for 33% reservation, at least 23 women have to be elected to the house in one term. On the contrary, since 1993, only 39 women have been elected to the house collectively in seven elections.
ELECTED WOMEN LEGISLATORS
Never in the history of the Delhi assembly has the total number of elected women in an assembly touched double digits. It was the 1998 assembly poll, when nine women were elected to the house – the highest so far.
A total of 491 women contested the Delhi assembly elections since 1993, but almost 80% of these women, 391, lost deposits.
The importance of women in Delhi elections is clearly visible with the way political parties are trying to attract women voters in Delhi. Both the AAP and Congress have promised a monthly monetary scheme for women, if elected. The BJP has also announced a similar scheme, like it is running in other states. Little before the 2020 elections, the AAP had launched a free bus ride scheme for all women.
Since the 2013 elections, voter participation in Delhi has improved significantly. Although the election of 2020 saw less voter participation than 2015, it has been above 60%. Further, the gender gap between voter turnout has also dropped significantly over the years.
In 2020, the average women voter turnout was 62.51% against men’s 62.59%. The gap was widest in 1993 when male turnout was 64.56%, but female was 58.27%.
WOMEN IN FRAY
For the 2025 assembly polls, the AAP, BJP and Congress have fielded nine women each. Although there is not even a single seat where all three parties have only named women candidates.
From the AAP, Sarita Singh (Rohtas Nagar); Anjana Parcha (Trilokpuri); Rakhi Bidlan (Madipur); Bandana Kumari (Shalimar Bagh); Preeti Tomar (Tri Nagar); Pooja Naresh Balyan (Uttam Nagar); Atishi (Kalkaji); Pramila Tokas (R.K. Puram) and Dhanwati Chandela (Rajouri Garden) are in the battle.
The nine women in fray from the BJP are – Sushri Kumari Rinku (Seemapuri); Rekha Gupta (Shalimar Bagh); Shikha Rai (Greater Kailash); Poonam Sharma (Wazirpur); Priyanka Gautam (Kondali); Neelam Pahalwan (Najafgarh); Shweta Saini (Tilaknagar); Deepti Indora (Matia Mahal); and Urmila Gangwal (Madipur).
From the Congress, nine women are in the fray — Aruna Kumari (Narela); Ragini Nayak (Wazirpur); Ariba Khan (Okhla); Alka Lamba (Kalkaji); Sushma Yadav (Najafgarh); Harbani Kaur (Janakpuri); Pushpa Singh (Mehrauli); Sureshwati Chauhan (Rohtas Nagar); and Krishna Tirath (Patel Nagar).
Collectively, 27 women are in the fray from these three parties for the 2025 elections, up from 24 in 2020. All eight women MLAs who were elected in 2020 were from the AAP.
The city will go to polls on February 5 and the counting of votes will be done on February 8.
Location : First Published:January 18, 2025, 07:00 IST
News elections Delhi Elections: Women Voters Taking Control, But Female MLAs Still Missing