Scope for Participation of Women in Post-Independence Indian Politics

Since the beginning of human civilisation and the process of socialisation, citizens who identified as females have been underprivileged, undervalued, subjugated and oppressed. Women, along with men, put forth an immense amount of labour into making the State. However, their fate was to stay locked up within the boundaries of the familial walls. Even though few women of high society have been fortunate enough to exercise their political diplomacy at various ages, the majority of the women belonged to the less advantaged sections of society and thereby had no right or opportunity to exercise their political intellect in practical fields. Only with the advent of the highly politicised nationalist movement against the British did women actively participate in the field of politics and have been trying to find a niche ever since. Women’s active political participation is a must as it has the potential to provide equality, equity, justice and empowerment in our prevalent societal and governmental systems that often show the tendency towards injustice and inequality in terms of rights, empowerment and so on. This paper examines how Indian women deal with political minorization, analyses statistics of women’s political participation since independence and tries to navigate the nature and scope of women’s equally active participation in politics and legislature as men. It also examines how political reservation in gender quotas can further their cause of equality and equity in society.