Representation of women in 17th Tamil Nadu assembly rises to 23

CHENNAI: The 17th Tamil Nadu Legislative Assembly has 23 women members, an increase from 12 in the outgoing House, making it the third highest number of women representatives in the State’s history.

The Tamilaga Vetri Kazhagam, led by C Joseph Vijay, which emerged as the single largest party with 108 members, has 13 women legislators. The AIADMK has six women among its 47 members. However, the DMK, despite fielding 19 women candidates, has no women representatives in the House, even as it secured 59 seats to become the second largest party. The Congress, PMK, CPM and DMDK have one woman MLA each.

Women account for less than 10 per cent of the total Assembly strength of 234. According to Election Commission data, the State has 5.73 crore voters, of whom 2.93 crore are women, constituting 51 per cent of the electorate. Of the 4.87 crore votes polled, 2.52 crore were cast by women, accounting for nearly 52 per cent.

Despite political parties focusing their campaign with promises for women voters, representation in terms of candidature remained limited. While parties have supported 33 per cent reservation for women in Parliament and State legislatures, their representation in the Assembly stands at around 10 per cent.

Of the 4,023 candidates who contested the election, only 443 were women. The DMK-led alliance fielded 26 women candidates, while the AIADMK nominated 29. The Tamilaga Vetri Kazhagam fielded 23 women candidates. The NTK fielded the highest number of women candidates at 117. Of the total women candidates, only 23 were elected.

In the outgoing Assembly, there were 12 women MLAs, including six from the DMK. In 2016, the Assembly had 21 women members, including former Chief Minister J. Jayalalithaa.

The State Assembly has crossed 10 per cent women representation only twice. The highest was in 1991 with 32 women MLAs, accounting for 13 per cent. The second highest was in 2001 with 24 women legislators, around 10 per cent.

A DMK leader said that the outcome reflected inadequate opportunities for women candidates. She said women continued to face barriers in entering politics and that political parties often cited electoral considerations to limit their representation. She added that effective implementation of women’s reservation remained the key to improving representation.

Despite political parties focusing their campaign promises on women voters, representation in terms of candidature has remained limited