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When the Nari Shakti Vandan Adhiniyam (Women's Reservation Bill, 2023) was passed in Parliament, it was celebrated as a historic leap toward gender parity in Indian politics. The promise was bold: reserving 33% of seats in the Lok Sabha and State Assemblies for women. Yet, as the rhetoric fades and political realities set in, an uncomfortable question emerges. One that mainstream political discourse continuously evades: Where will these candidates come from, and who will they actually represent?
A legislation that purports to overhaul political representation cannot exist in a vacuum. A closer look at the structural hierarchy of Indian politics reveals a stark, glaring paradox between token legislation and actual political power which comes from meaningful representation.
Patriarchal gatekeeping in candidate selection
Before addressing legislative quotas, one must confront the deep-seated prejudice within political party headquarters during ticket distribution. In most Indian political parties, women are simply not considered "winnable" or eligible candidates. Time and again, party high commands bypass accomplished, articulate, and dedicated female grassroots workers in favour of male candidates even when those men possess demonstrably inferior skill sets, lower administrative acumen, and weaker public connection.
Party bosses routinely hide behind patriarchal biases, viewing politics as a domain of muscle power and financial clout — traits traditionally hoarded by men. A male candidate with questionable competence is routinely given the benefit of the doubt, while a highly qualified woman is subjected to impossible standards of “winnability”.
When political parties inherently do not trust women to run or win without a mandated crutch, a 33% reservation, though it is a step in the right direction, risks becoming a forced compliance exercise rather than an embrace of genuine capability.
The numbers from the 2024 Lok Sabha elections expose this institutional reluctance in plain terms. Out of 8,360 total candidates who contested across the country, a meagre 800, which amounts to just 9.6%, were women.
Vanishing female leadership
To understand the fragility of female representation in India, one only needs to count the women holding actual executive authority today.
Despite decades of political evolution, the number of women leading political organisations or holding key executive offices remains abysmal:
●Political Parties: Today, active political parties founded and run by women remain a rarity. Currently, only two such entities remain active electorally. Exemplified by the Trinamool Congress (TMC), currently battling severe administrative crises, and the all-new regional entrant, the Telangana Rakshana Sena (TRS), founded by Kavitha Kalvakuntla.
●Executive Authority: Across India's 28 states and union territories, female leadership at the helm of governance has dwindled to near invisibility, with only a single female Chief Minister currently in office. At the Union level, female representation in the Cabinet remains restricted to a tiny fraction.
When established national and regional parties consistently fail to cultivate female leadership within their own cadres, expecting a sudden influx of independent, empowered female candidates for a third of all seats is political fantasy. Without structural pipelines within parties, the reservation risks degenerating into a system of "proxy candidates". Where female family members are fielded to safeguard the fiefdoms of established male politicians.
How the elite retain control
The structural deficit in women's reservation is not merely about gender; it is deeply intertwined with caste and social justice.
By refusing to implement an OBC sub-quota within the 33% reservation framework, the ruling establishment ensures that structural inequality remains intact.
Without a quota within the quota:
Perpetuation of hegemony: General category seats outside the mandatory SC/ST reservations will predominantly be captured by women from privileged, elite caste backgrounds who already possess social, financial, and political capital.
Exclusion of the majority: Other Backward Classes (OBCs), who constitute a massive portion of India's population, are effectively shut out of guaranteed representation. Rural, agrarian, and working-class women will find it virtually impossible to compete against wealthy, politically connected elites.
By bypassing the demand for an OBC sub-quota, the policy design quietly preserves the status quo. It allows the ruling elite to claim the moral high ground of gender empowerment while ensuring that power remains concentrated within a few historically dominant communities.
Women's empowerment cannot be achieved by merely reserving seats on paper while locking the gates of institutional power in practice.
If 33% reservation promises to mean anything beyond election rhetoric, three non-negotiable shifts must occur:
●Dismantling inner-party bias: Parties must eliminate the systemic double standard in ticket distribution, actively recognising competent women as viable, high-performing leaders rather than secondary options.
● Organisational reform: Political parties must elevate women into top decision-making bodies within their internal structures.
●Intersectionality and social justice: The reservation framework must incorporate an OBC sub-quota to ensure that political representation reflects the true socio-economic fabric of Indian society, rather than creating a political monopoly for a privileged few.
Until India addresses the institutional gatekeeping within political parties and the deliberate exclusion of backward classes, the 33% women's reservation will remain what it currently is: a grand legislative facade designed to look like progress while keeping real power exactly where it has always been.
Akash Kolluru is the national media spokesperson of Telangana Rakshana Sena (TRS). Views expressed here are the author’s own.
