CHENNAI: The number of women contesting in assembly elections in Tamil Nadu has risen over the years, with 443 female candidates in the fray for the April 23 poll. There are 3,579 men in the fray.In 1967, just 11 women were among 778 candidates. By 1984, there were 46 women. In the 2006 election, there were 156 women. In 2021, as many as 413 women were among the total of 3,998 candidates.
Though the number of women candidates has risen over the years, men continued to dominate the field.Parties appeared to nominate women more selectively — and it showed in the results. From 1984 through 2016, in every assembly election, women’s strike rate — the share of winners among women contestants — was higher than the corresponding figure for men. Not just that, they were also a lower share of candidates losing their deposits in every single election (see table). Even in strong years, when most women candidates forfeited their deposits, their loss rates were still lower than men’s.In 1991, 32 women won seats, giving them a success rate of about 31% against 7.4 % for men. In 2001, 25 women entered the assembly, and in 2006, as many as 22 did so.The biggest spikes in women MLAs coincide with former chief minister J Jayalalithaa’s landslides in 1991 and 2001, when her party and its allies sent unusually large cohorts of women into the House.Yet those gains have proved fragile. By 2021, the pattern had reversed. Although nearly 100 more women contested in 2021 compared with 2016, the number of women who walked into the assembly dropped to 12 from 21. The percentage of women contesting touched 10% of all candidates, the highest ever in Tamil Nadu. Yet, 92% of them lost their deposits, higher than men’s 88%.
Now the question is how many of the 443 women will raise the victory sign on May 4 when the results are out?
