With Fewer Women MLAs, Gender Parity Takes A Hit In Maharashtra Assembly
Smaller states in India have a better record of women’s representation in their assembly. In Maharashtra, the gender skew is glaring – few contest, fewer win and those who do often have family backing
Maharashtra’s new assembly will have 22 women MLAs, constituting 7.6% of all legislators. This is a decline in women’s representation – in the last assembly, there were 24 women.
The high stakes Maharashtra Assembly elections that were conducted on November 20 saw the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) emerge as the single largest party with 132 seats, securing a decisive victory for its Mahayuti alliance which secured 230 seats in the 288 seat assembly, ensuring a comfortable majority to form the government. Its allies, the Shiv Sena (Shinde faction), secured 57 seats while the NCP (Ajit Pawar) bagged 41 seats.
The Mahavikas Aghadi (MVA), comprising Shiv Sena (Uddhav B Thackeray), the Indian National Congress (INC) and Nationalist Congress Party (Sharad Pawar) managed to win 50 seats. Additionally, the Socialist Party secured two seats, while the CPI(M) and the Peasants and Workers Party won one seat each. This was the first assembly election following significant party splits and government reshuffles in the state
Among the women elected, 15 are from the BJP, four from NCP (AP), two from Shiv Sena (Shinde) and one from the INC. Jyoti Gaikwad (INC) from Dharavi is the only woman MLA in the opposition MVA alliance. Of the women winners, 14 are sitting MLAs and the rest new entrants.
Women Who Won
Among prominent women MLAs, Sulbha Khodke from NCP-AP won a third term in the assembly representing the Amravati constituency, while Shweta Mahale, a popular grassroots BJP leader returns to the assembly for a second time. Manisha Choudhary, a sitting BJP MLA, also won and secured her second term from Dahisar — a Mumbai suburban constituency. Choudhary asked the most questions in the last assembly.
Saroj Ahire, Vidya Thakur, Meghna Sakore-Bordikar, Namita Mundada, Devyani Pharande, Madhuri Misal, Seema Hiray are some of the other women MLAs who have been re-elected.
Aditi Tatkare, sitting MLA from NCP-AP and a minister, secured a second term from her home turf, Shirwardhan in Raygad. Sneha Pandit of BJP, a first-time MLA won from the Vasai constituency defeating Hintendra Thakur, a powerful politician of the Bahujan Vikas Aaghadi (VBA). Sanjana Jadhav, daughter of the former minister Raosaheb Danve, contested and won against her former husband, Harshwardhan Jadhav.
Jyoti Gaikwad from the INC makes her electoral debut from the Dharavi constituency, in the news for the redevelopment project that has been awarded to the Adani group.
First Time Women MLAs
Of the eight women first-timers in the Maharashtra assembly, six come from families that have a strong background in electoral politics. Sana Malik, for instance, is the daughter of former minister and NCP-AP leader Nawab Malik. Similarly, Shreejaya Chavhan, daughter of the former Maharashtra Chief Minister Ashok Chavhan, began her political journey as a prominent face in Nanded’s Bhokar constituency during Congress’ Bharat Jodo Yatra. However, she had migrated to BJP soon after her father.
Sulbha Gaikwad, wife of former BJP MLA Ganpat Gaikwad—who faced allegations of attempting to murder Mahesh Gaikwad at a Kalyan police station—was fielded by the BJP in her husband’s place. Sai Dahake, another first-time MLA, is the wife of former NCP MLA Prakash Dahake. INC MLA Jyoti Gaikwad is a daughter of former minister Eknath Gaikwad and sister of Loksabha MP Varsha Gaikwad. Sanjana Jadhav is a daughter of former minister Raosaheb Danve contested and won against her former husband Harshwardhan Jadhav.
How Diverse Is The Assembly
From the Scheduled Caste (SC) category, the new assembly will have four women legislators: Saroj Ahire, Jyoti Gaikwad, Namita Mundada and Seema Hiray. Manjula Gavit is the only tribal MLA and Sana Malik the only Muslim woman MLA.
Maharashtra is yet to see a trans woman MLA. Shameebha Patil (VBA), the first trans woman to contest assembly elections in the state, contested from Raver in Jalgaon district but lost. The state has not seen a woman with disability being elected as well. Disabled women are often perceived to be ‘not up to the job’, says this research paper from the United Kingdom.
Male Bastion
Women’s representation in the Maharashtra Legislative Assembly has historically been low, reflecting broader gender disparities in political representation across India. There has, however, been a gradual shift in the last two decades. In 2004, only 12 women were elected to the assembly. A decade later, in 2014, the number went up to 19. In 2024, the proportion of women in the assembly is far lower than seen in smaller states such as Chhattisgarh (18%) and Jharkhand which went to polls alongside Maharashtra (15%).
The problem starts with the distribution of tickets, says Medha Kulkarni, founder of Sampark, an advocacy organisation that promotes women and child rights. Sampark recently released a report on the outgoing assembly.
“Women are given less importance within their parties and therefore we see few of them in the assembly,” says Medha. Only 9.2% of contestants in the 2024 elections were women. “It is a chicken and egg conundrum.” Parties often underestimate women’s winnability quotient but how, she asks, are women to build a political presence if they are not given a platform or opportunity.
Even women who manage to get elected are not allowed to raise issues in the house, especially those perceived as male domains – budget, irrigation and so on, says Medha. In a study conducted by Sampark comparing the content put out by male and female candidates on Facebook, it was found that women posted more on “cultural” issues – festival greetings, tributes to freedom fighters and so on while men spoke of their constituency visits, their work and utilisation of welfare funds.
Maharashtra’s Assembly has yet to witness a woman MLA in a significant leadership role. No woman has ever held the position of speaker or the deputy speaker. It has been over 30 years since a woman MLA occupied the position of the opposition leader. Congress leaders Prabha Rau and Pratibha Patil in 1979 and 1980 and socialist leader Mrunal Gore of Janata Party in 1988 served as leaders of the opposition. All their tenures lasted a year.
Maharashtra has not seen a woman chief minister in its history. Nor did women hold important portfolios like home, finance or health. Varsha Gaikwad served as the education minister under the MVA government, while Yashomati Thakur and Aditi Tatakre have served as ministers-in-charge of the women and child development department.
Family, Politics and Gender
As we said earlier, most women who eventually are able to hold electoral offices in the state also come from political families. In the new assembly, 11 of the 22 elected women MLAs have a political lineage.
Among the eight first-time women MLAs, six have political antecedents.
Few have risen from grassroots politics, where there is constitutionally mandated reservation, to state or national level politics. One exception is Anuradha Chavhan (BJP), who won from Phulambri in Chatrapati Sambhaji Nagar(formerly Aurangabad) who has had experience in politics at the panchayat level.
“Established political parties want women activists to work hard for their party’s growth but when it comes to giving them opportunities they are not very keen,” says Aruna Pendse, a former professor of political science at University of Mumbai.
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