The trend of women's mass involvement in electoral politics in India indicates their readiness to narrow the significant gap in political participation, even when facing unfavourable odds.
In 2009, the Election Commission of India, for the first time, identified the gender gap in electoral participation as a major challenge. Women’s turnout in the 2009 election was 55.8 percent, lagging by more than 4 points to the male turnout rate of 60.36 percent. To address this gap, the ECI launched Systematic Voters’ Education and Electoral Participation (SVEEP), a programme which has resulted in increasing voter turnout and voter literacy across the country. SVEEP used innovative ways to engage with voters at the grassroots by roping in female mascots, organising women’s rallies, and running country-wide campaigns.
The ECI launched Systematic Voters’ Education and Electoral Participation (SVEEP), a programme which has resulted in increasing voter turnout and voter literacy across the country.
This campaign to encourage voters in Uttar Pradesh, the most populous state with the highest number of female voters and rigid social norms, is an instance of mass mobilisation by SVEEP:
Daughter: “Dear mother, don’t stop me, I will go to vote.” Mother: “Listen daughter, I will not send you outside. Stay at home and work.”
Daughter: “Dear mother, your aunts would go to vote. Your old grandmother will go to vote. Dear mother, listen to me, pay attention; I have got my voter slip. My name is in the rolls and I am a voter.”
Mother: “Dear daughter, thanks for enlightening me, I will vote and make sure you vote too.”
The programme's impact was seen in the next election in 2014, which saw an incredible jump in the overall voter turnout, with a surge in women voters and a narrowing of the gender gap. In the 2019 election, the female voter turnout of 67.18 percent overtook the male voter turnout of 67.01 percent. This trend will continue in this year’s election, as the enrolment lists by the ECI indicate that 12 states have a higher percentage of enrolled female voters than males, and more women than men have been added to the list of new electors by over 15 percent.
While the work by SVEEP is widely credited for bringing in women, the youth and the marginalised into voting, a few other factors have contributed to the rise of the female voter in India—rising levels of literacy and awareness among women, male migration to urban areas with women staying behind and voting in larger numbers, and increased campaigning by political parties that recognise women as an important constituency.
Figure 1: Gender gap in voter turnout in national elections in India (%)
Source: Voice.net (Voter Information, Communication & Education Network)
One of the most effective strategies employed by SVEEP to increase female voter turnout was to identify cadres of female workers at the grassroots to spread the message. In a tribal district in Gujarat, for instance, where it found that many women were unaware of their right to vote, ASHA workers, Anganwadi workers, and members of self-help groups (SHGs) held mass rallies on the day that women from the district would show up for the immunisation of children. The exclusively female cadres of ASHA workers, Anganwadi workers, and ANMs are estimated to be over six million in India. They work at the frontline of delivering health, education and social protection, delivering aid during disasters and emergencies, and doubling up as “social workers”.
The exclusively female cadres of ASHA workers, Anganwadi workers, and ANMs are estimated to be over six million in India.
The cadre of women in SHGs is even stronger than frontline workers. India has the largest network of women’s SHGs in the world, with over 100 million women members under the National Rural Livelihoods Mission (NRLM) and the programme has contributed, in no small part, to the mobilisation of women voters in the country. Research indicates that SHG members are more politically engaged than non-members. They are more likely to vote, to choose who they will vote for, to attend Gram Sabha meetings, and to know and interact with other women and thus wield influence on them.
Based on data from December 2023, on average, 14 SHGs in every village and every eighth Indian woman is a member of a self-help group. SHGs are essentially savings groups which are linked to banks to promote financial inclusion and livelihood opportunities for women through access to savings and credit. With the reach of the programme and the solidarity networks that it creates, it has become common to involve women in SHGs for social campaigns. They were at the forefront of delivering aid in remote areas at the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic. SHGs strongly impact women’s social, political, and economic empowerment, including in their political participation, knowledge of administration, financial literacy, mobility, and decision-making.
With the reach of the programme and the solidarity networks that it creates, it has become common to involve women in SHGs for social campaigns.
Evidence from the ground supports the impact of NRLM and self-help groups. A recent report from Andhra Pradesh, which is often credited for starting the self-help movement in India, shows that 60 percent of women voters in the state belong to SHGs and the vital role they will play in determining the outcome of the election. Though data is not available for many states, it can be said that SHGs have demonstrated their impact on deepening democracy and governance.
The trend of mass participation by women in electoral politics in India is an anomaly, given their underrepresentation in the labour force and legislative bodies at the state and national levels. It shows that women may have a big gap to bridge when it comes to meaningful political participation, but they are willing and more than capable. With the introduction of the Women’s Reservation Bill this year, the way forward might be found by looking at women’s experiences in local bodies (both rural and urban), where 30 years of reservation for women has had a transformative impact with women holding 44 percent of seats in local bodies, to learn from the achievements and the failures, and to capitalise on this moment.
Sunaina Kumar is a Senior Fellow at the Observer Research Foundation
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Sunaina Kumar is a Senior Fellow at ORF and Executive Director at Think20 India Secretariat. At ORF, she works with the Centre for New Economic ...
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