Half the voters, few the candidates: Women continue to lag in Kerala's poll politics.

The article focuses on the underrepresentation of women candidates in Kerala’s April 9 Assembly elections despite the recent passage of the Nari Shakti Vandan Adhiniyam, a bill aimed at enhancing women’s political participation. Although women constitute over half of the electorate, major political parties have fielded only a small number of women candidates, with the Indian Union Muslim League nominating women for the first time. Political leaders and analysts express concern over the limited voluntary increase in women’s representation and emphasize the need for the bill’s implementation, which includes a 33 percent reservation for women in state legislatures and Parliament. The article highlights ongoing challenges related to patriarchy within party leadership and notes that women’s representation in Kerala’s Assembly has historically remained below 10 percent. [Extracted from the article]