Jaipur: Seventy-five years after the Rajasthan Legislative Assembly came into existence, women continue to have a limited presence in the state’s highest elected House. Since the first Assembly elections in 1952, only 208 women have been elected as MLAs against 3,080 legislators, underscoring the longstanding gender imbalance in Rajasthan politics.Assembly election data shows women account for just 7.08% of all MLAs elected over the past seven decades, while men make up the remaining 92.8%. The figures are based on Assembly election results and do not include victories in byelections.Ironically, Rajasthan’s first two women legislators entered the House through byelections. Yashoda Devi of the Praja Socialist Party (PSP) became the state’s first woman MLA after winning the Banswara byelection in 1953, just a year after the Assembly was constituted. She was followed by Kamla Beniwal, who won the Amber byelection in 1954 on a Congress ticket and later became Rajasthan’s first woman minister.Despite these early milestones, women’s representation has remained consistently low across successive Assemblies. Political observers say the numbers reflect a combination of factors, including fewer tickets being given to women by major political parties, social barriers and the tendency to field women in a limited number of winnable seats.The debate has gained fresh relevance after Parliament passed the Women’s Reservation Act, which provides for 33% reservation for women in the Lok Sabha and state Assemblies after the next delimitation exercise. Until that comes into effect, women’s representation in the Rajasthan Assembly will largely depend on political parties voluntarily fielding more women candidates.Over the years, Rajasthan has produced several influential women leaders, including former chief minister Vasundhara Raje, former Assembly Speaker Sumitra Singh, deputy chief minister Diya Kumari, former Union minister Girija Vyas and former Governor Kamla Beniwal. Yet their individual achievements have not translated into a larger presence of women in the Assembly.Reacting to the dismal show, Speaker Vasudev Devnani said, “While Rajasthan has produced many distinguished women leaders, their representation in the House has remained limited. We hope that in the coming years more women will enter the Legislature and contribute to strengthening democratic traditions.”Congress MLA Shikha Meel Barala said women legislators have brought greater focus to issues concerning women, children and social welfare, adding that they bring a broader perspective to legislative debates. BJP MLA Deepti Maheshwari said the implementation of one-third reservation for women in legislatures would strengthen democracy and accelerate the country’s overall development.As the House marks its 75th year, the numbers offer a reminder that while women have occupied some of Rajasthan’s highest political offices, they are still far from being adequately represented in its principal legislative institution.
