Reality lags rhetoric on women's representation

Once again, the Karnataka elections saw too few women candidates. We need to bridge a glaring gender gap across the country for representative democracy to fulfil its promise.

Karnataka voted on Wednesday, with more than 65% of its eligible voters turning up at booths. The gender gap in this state’s turnout has been closing from one election to the next, but though more women may be voting, women’s representation in its legislative assembly remains very low. Of the 2,615 candidates in the fray for 224 seats, just 184 are women and one is of the ‘other gender’. That’s a little over 7% of candidates in a state that boasts of being home to IT services and manufacturing businesses that serve the world. If there aren’t enough women to elect at all levels, from city councils to Parliament, women are not going to have much say in governance, which translates to exclusion from public decision making.