On 21 September 2023, Parliament passed the ‘Nari Shakti Vandan Act’ (Women’s Reservation Act). This means that 33 percent seats in the Lok Sabha and all state assemblies will be reserved for women. This law has been notified in the Gazette on 20 April 2026, but was not passed in the Lok Sabha because first nationwide census and delimitation is necessary. Its real benefit will be seen in the elections around 2029. Meanwhile, it is important to know how much the political parties have increased the share of women in ticket distribution in the last 3 years? Know in the explainer…
Question 1: After the law was made, how much did the parties increase in giving tickets to women?
answer: After the enactment of the Women’s Reservation Act, there was a very slow and slight increase in giving tickets to women. Most parties are still fielding very few women. In many states the number of tickets has become less than before. Overall, parties increased the proportion of women 38 times, but also decreased it 24 times. Only 10 times there was an increase of 5 percentage points or more. Barring a few small cases, no party has yet reached more than 30%.
Question 2: What is the situation in poll-bound states this year?
answer: In Assam, Kerala, West Bengal, Tamil Nadu and Puducherry, most parties have increased only slightly or some have reduced it.
- West Bengal (2026 elections): Congress gave tickets to 35 women, which were only 7 in 2021. But in 2021, Congress was fighting only on 92 seats, now on 294. Therefore the percentage increased from 7.6% to 11.9%. TMC has fielded 52 women, which were 48 in 2021. TMC’s percentage increased from 16.55% to 17.86%. BJP reduced 5 tickets. That means reduction from 38 to 33.
- Tamil Nadu: DMK had given tickets to 14 women in 2021 and now 19 women are candidates. There were 17 women candidates from AIADMK in 2021 and now there are 19. The percentage of both is around 11%.
- Kerala: BJP and Congress gave less women in 2021. There was a slight increase in CPI(M). BJP’s percentage decreased from 13.9% to 14.3%, Congress from 10.8% to 9.9%, CPI(M) from 14.7% to 15.6%.
- Assam: Congress fielded 13 (9 in 2021) candidates, which is an increase of 13.3%, while BJP gave a chance to 6 (7 in 2021) women, which is only 6.7%.
Question 3: What is the record of the parties in major state elections?
answer: In the elections after the 2023 law, only 6 times did a party give tickets to more than 20% women:
- Sikkim Elections 2024: Congress gave tickets to 33.3% more women.
- Jharkhand Election 2024: AJSU had 30%.
- Odisha Elections 2024: BJD expressed confidence in 23.8% women.
- Jharkhand Election 2024: Congress gave opportunity to 23.3% women.
- Kerala Elections 2026: CPI has given opportunity to 20.8% women.
- Chhattisgarh Election 2023: Congress gave tickets to 20% women.
BJP’s best performance was in Jharkhand with 17.6% and Chhattisgarh with 16.7%. Earlier its highest was 15.6% (Chhattisgarh 2018) and 15.4% (Mizoram). BJP’s biggest increase was in Jharkhand by 8.8 percentage points, but there was a decline of 7.5 percentage points in Andhra Pradesh. In Puducherry, BJP did not field any women candidate in both 2024 and 2021. Congress’s record in Sikkim, Jharkhand, Chhattisgarh and Arunachal has been good.
Question 4: What did the parties running schemes for women do?
answer: Where parties launched or promised cash transfer schemes for women, tickets increased slightly. Like in Madhya Pradesh (2023), Maharashtra (2024) and Bihar (2025). But in Bihar, Nitish Kumar’s JD(U) reduced the percentage of women in the ticket, even though his entire campaign was focused on women.
According to the report of Indian Express, the parties are still in the old thinking. They are giving tickets to women only on ‘safe’ or low-risk seats. No party is aiming for 33%. There is no compulsion as the law is not yet implemented. As a result, there was an increase 38 times, but a decrease 24 times.
Question 5: What effect is this on common people, women and politics?
answer: Political expert Rashid Kidwai says that the purpose of the law was to provide equal opportunities to women, but very little has happened voluntarily. Only 14% women became MPs in 2024 Lok Sabha. The average in state assemblies is not more than 9-10%. Due to this, women’s representation in politics remained low. Common people are seeing that despite big promises, parties are lagging behind in giving tickets to women. This is affecting women’s confidence and participation in politics.
Rashid Kidwai said, ‘Around 2029, when the law will be fully implemented after delimitation, then 33% reservation will become a compulsion. Then the parties will have to give tickets to women. The current modest increase is just an initial indication. If the parties make preparations from now, a big change can come, but at present the parties are very slow in giving tickets to women.