New Delhi : Association for Democratic Reforms (ADR) and National Election Watch (NEW) report finds that Out of the 512 Women MPs/MLAs 143(28%) have declared criminal cases against themselves. 24 (32%) out of 75 Lok Sabha Women MPs, 10(27%) out of 37 Rajya Sabha Women MPs and 109(27%) out of 400 Women MLAs (all state assemblies / UTs) analysed have declared criminal cases against themselves.
Out of the 512 Women MPs/MLAs analysed, 78(15%) have declared serious criminal cases against themselves. 14 (19%) out of 75 Lok Sabha Women MPs, 7(19%) out of 37 Rajya Sabha Women MPs and 57(14%) out of 400 Women MLAs (all state assemblies / UTs) analysed have declared serious criminal cases against themselves.
Association for Democratic Reforms (ADR) and National Election Watch (NEW) have analyzed the self -sworn affidavits of 512 out 513 sitting Women MPs & MLAs from across the nation. This report analyses all 112 affidavits of sitting Women MPs from Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha and 400 out of 401 sitting Women MLAs from all the 28 states and 3 union territories of India. It also includes analysis of the affidavits submitted for bye elections held during the 5 years’ period due to resignation, death or vacation of seat due to some other reason. One MLA namely Palle Sindhura Reddy (TDP) contesting from Puttaparthi Constituency (Andhra Pradesh) has not been analysed due to the unavailability of her clear and complete affidavit on the ECI website at the time of making this report.
This data has been extracted from the affidavits (Form 26) submitted with the ECI and filed by the candidates i.e women MPs and MLAs in the present report at the time elections are held in the years 2020 to 2025. The current status of the criminal cases taken from these affidavits and given the present report is not known and may vary from case-to-case basis. The completeness, timeliness and instant status of all data and information used in the report are dependent upon diverse resources of such data and information, which are outside of ADR’s control. Following is the highlights of this report :
Summary and Highlights
Figure: Percentage of Sitting Women MPs/ MLAs and Criminal Cases
State with Highest Percentage of Sitting Women MPs/MLAs with Criminal Cases: 2 (67%) out of 3 women MPs/MLAs from Goa, 8 (67%) out of 12 women MPs/MLAs from Telangana, 14 (58%) out of 24 women MPs/MLAs from Andhra Pradesh, 7 (50%) out of 14 women MPs/MLAs from Punjab, 7(50%) out of 14 women MPs/MLAs from Kerala and 15 (43%) out of 35 women MPs/MLAs from Bihar have declared criminal cases against themselves in their self-sworn affidavits.
State with Highest Percentage of Sitting Women MPs/MLAs with Serious Criminal Cases: 5 (42%) out of 12 women MPs/MLAs from Telangana, 9 (38%) out of 24 women MPs/MLAs from Andhra Pradesh, 1 (33%) out of 3 women MPs/MLAs from Goa, 9 (26%) out of 35 women MPs/MLAs from Bihar, 1(25%) out of 4 women MPs/MLAs from Meghalaya, 3 (21%) out of 14 women MPs/MLAs from Punjab and 3 (21%) out of 14 women MPs/MLAs from Kerala have declared serious criminal cases against themselves in their self-sworn affidavits.
Figure: State wise percentage of sitting women MPs/MLAs with declared criminal cases
Party Wise Percentage of Sitting Women MPs/MLAs with Criminal Cases: 49 (23%) out of 217 women MPs/MLAs from BJP, 28 (34%) out of 83 women MPs/MLAs from INC, 13 (65%) out of 20 women MPs/MLAs from TDP, 12 (22%) out of 54 women MPs/MLAs from AITC, 9(69%) out of 13 women MPs/MLAs from AAP and 6 (29%) out of 21 women MPs/MLAs from SP have declared criminal cases against themselves in their self-sworn affidavits.
Party Wise Percentage of Sitting Women MPs/MLAs with Serious Criminal Cases: 24 (11%) out of 217 women MPs/MLAs from BJP, 17 (20%) out of 83 women MPs/MLAs from INC, 9 (45%) out of 20 women MPs/MLAs from TDP, 6 (11%) out of 54 women MPs/MLAs from AITC, 4(31%) out of 13 women MPs/MLAs from AAP and 3 (14%) out of 21 women MPs/MLAs from SP have declared serious criminal cases against themselves in their self-sworn affidavits.
image.png
Figure: Party wise percentage of sitting women MPs/MLAs with declared criminal cases
Sitting women MPs/MLAs with cases related to murder: Out of 512 Women MPs/MLAs analysed, 3 have declared cases related to Murder (IPC Section – 302) against themselves.
Sitting women MPs/MLAs with cases related to attempt to murder: Out of 512 Women MPs/MLAs analysed, 12 have declared cases related to attempt to murder (IPC Section- 307). Of these 2 out of 75 Lok Sabha Women MPs, 1 out of 37 Rajya Sabha Women MPs and 9 out of 400 Women MLAs analysed from state assemblies/UTs have declared cases related to attempt to murder.
Financial Background
Billionaire Sitting Women MPs/MLAs: Out of the 512 women MPs/MLAs analysed, 17 (3%) are Billionaires. This includes 6 (8%) out of 75 Lok Sabha MPs, 3(8%) out of 37 Rajya Sabha MPs and 8(2%) out of 400 MLAs from all state assemblies / UTs.
Average Assets of Sitting Women MPs/MLAs: The average of assets per woman MP/MLA is Rs 20.34 Crores.
Total Assets of Sitting Women MPs/MLAs: The total assets of 512 women MPs/MLAs are Rs. 10,417 Crores.
State with Highest Average Assets of Sitting Women MPs/MLAs: The state with the highest average assets per women MPs/MLAs is Andhra Pradesh (24 women MPs/MLAs) with average assets of Rs 74.22 crores, followed by Dadra and Nagar Haveli and Daman and Diu (1 woman MP/MLA) with average assets of Rs 71.44 crores and Haryana (15 women MPs/MLAs) with average assets of Rs 63.72 crores.
State with Lowest Average Assets of Sitting Women MPs/MLAs: The state with the lowest average assets of women MPs/MLAs is Assam (8 women MPs/MLAs) with average assets of Rs 2.18 crores, followed by Mizoram (3 women MPs/MLAs) with average assets of Rs 2.20 crores and Manipur (5 women MPs/MLAs) with average assets of Rs 2.84 crores.
Analysis Based on Education of Women MPs/MLAs
125(24%) Women MPs/MLAs have declared their educational qualifications to be between 5th and 12th standard while 363(71%) Women MPs/MLAs have declared having an educational qualification of graduate or above. 12 Women MPs/MLAs are Diploma holders. 12 Women MPs/MLAs have declared themselves to be just literate.
As of the most recent data available, literacy rates in India show a notable gender gap. According to the 2011 Census of India, the overall literacy rate was 74.04%, with male literacy at 82.14% and female literacy at 65.46%, resulting in a gender gap of approximately 16.68 percentage points. However, more recent surveys, such as the National Family Health Survey (NFHS-5) conducted between 2019 and 2021, indicate the literacy rate for men at 84.4% and for women at 71.5%, narrowing the gap to about 12.9 percentage points.
Analysis Based on Age Groups
Age details of Women MPs/MLAs: 113(22%) Women MPs/MLAs have declared their age to be between 25 to 40 years while 329 (64%) Women MPs/MLAs have declared their age to be between 41 to 60 years. There are 70 (14%) Women MPs/MLAs who have declared their age to be between 61 to 80 years.
Number of Youth Women MPs/MLAs: Youth in Parliament/Assembly considered from 25-40 years. There are currently 113 out of 512 sitting youth women MPs/MLAs in this age group, constituting 22% of the total. In contrast, out of 4345 sitting men MPs/MLAs analyzed, only 417 (10%) are youth.
Average Age: The average age of Indian citizens is 27.8 years, as per the 2011 Census. Average age of Lok Sabha members is 55.6 years (India’s oldest ever); Rajya Sabha members are 63 years; MLAs from assemblies are 54 years. The average age of sitting women MPs and MLAs is 49 years.
Women in Lok Sabha Elections 2024
Participation of Women Electors:
The overall voter turnout (excluding postal ballot) in the Lok Sabha Elections 2024 was 65.66%, with male voter turnout of 65.55% and female voter turnout of 65.78%.
19 states and UTs had higher female voter turnout than male voter turnout.
Lakshadweep with 85.46% has the highest female voter turnout followed by Assam 81.71% and Tripura 80.57%. Mizoram recorded the lowest female voter turnout of 55.66%, followed by Jammu and Kashmir 56.36% and Gujarat 56.55%.
Among the constituencies, Dhubri (Assam) has the highest female voter turnout in the country at 92.17% and Srinagar 33.31% has the lowest female voter turnout.
Performance of Women Candidates:
The 18th Lok Sabha has 74 women MPs (13.6%) Which is lower than the 78 women MPs in the 17th Lok Sabha (14.4%).
The BJP has the highest number of women MPs, with 31 members, followed by INC with 13 women MPs and TMC with 11 women MPs.
Kriti Devi Debbarman (BJP) from Tripura East constituency in Tripura has won with the highest vote share, i.e. 68.54 % in her constituency.
Shobha Karandlaje (BJP) from Bangalore North constituency in Karnataka has won with the highest number of votes, i.e. 9,86,049 in her constituency.
22 states and UTs have women MPs in the 18th Lok Sabha. The only large state without a women MP is Kerala.
Higher share of women candidates won the elections than male candidates. 74 out of 800 women candidates won the elections (9.3%). whereas amongst 7554 male candidates, 469 were elected (6.2%).
West Bengal has the maximum number of women MPs 11, followed by Uttar Pradesh 7, Maharashtra 7 and Madhya Pradesh 6.
India is the largest Parliamentary democracy in which 662.9 million voters are women.
Though there are some powerful women political leaders who are Heads of political parties and/or Chief Ministers of states, yet there are only few women in the Parliament and State Assemblies. At present there are only 14 percent women MPs.
Observations and Recommendations:
Introduction
The litmus test for a truly representative democracy and inclusive political participation seek adequate representation of women in politics. India is the largest Parliamentary democracy with 662.9 million voters are women. Globally, as per the ranking by IPU as of 1st March, 2025 India ranks 151 among 185 countries in terms of women’s representation in Parliament. Political empowerment of women is key to achieving gender equality.
There is a strange paradox regarding women’s political participation in India where at one hand we see powerful women political leaders and on the other hand, there are only few women in the Parliament and State Assemblies. While there is a 50 per cent quota for women in the urban local bodies, a significant rise is also observed in registration of women as voters and female political participation, this has not translated into increased representation in the state assemblies or parliament. Around 49 per cent of India’s population is female; however, only 14 percent of the members of the current parliament are women.
As per the 2009 Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU) survey, one of the strongest deterrents to women entering politics was the lack of finances to contest electoral campaigns. The chances of winning of a female candidate with assets less than INR 10 million was 1.49 per cent only in the 2024 Indian General Election. It is to be noted that none of the 279 independent women candidates won in the 2024 General Election given the absence of support. Because of various structural impediments women remain underrepresented in Parliamentary and State Assemblies. This lack of representation is primarily caused by male dominated party structure, societal norms and expectations that prioritise traditional gender roles, caregiving duties, institutional barriers and patriarchal norms, stereotypes and biases based on physical characteristics, cultural biases and the long prevalent notion that women are not as electable as men.
Other key challenges include proxy representation, resource scarcity, financial constraints, cyber bullying and harassment, political violence and intimidation especially during elections. It is therefore vital to evaluate the multilayered challenges on the way to women’s representation in politics and policy making. For a woman to be reasonably politically represented entails their equal involvement in electoral processes, policy-making, and leadership positions. It encompasses voting, standing for elections, holding public office, and being involved in decision-making at all levels of governance.
Legal Framework
India’s legal framework guarantees gender equality, but the reality remains unequal. Part III of the India Constitution guarantees the fundamental rights of men and women. The Directive Principles of State Policy ensure economic empowerment by providing for equal pay for equal work by both men and women, humane conditions of work, and maternity relief. Articles 325 and 326 of the Constitution guarantee political equality and the right to vote by ensuring Universal Adult Franchise and preventing exclusion from the voter’s list based on sex. Articles 84 and 173 of the Constitution ensure that any Indian citizen who is registered as a voter can contest elections to the Parliament or the state legislative assemblies The 73rd and 74th Constitutional Amendment Acts passed in 1992 mandated that one-third of seats in Panchayati Raj institutions (PRIs), a system of rural local self-government in India, be reserved for women, promoting women’s participation in local government. India is a signatory to the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW) and aligns with the Beijing Declaration on gender equality, promoting women’s participation in public life.
Women’s reservation Bill
The ‘Women’s Reservation Bill’ tabled in 2008 that reserves 33% of seats for women in the Lok Sabha and State Assemblies marked a historic moment in India’s legislative history. Over three decades later and six attempts to pass the measure, finally in September 2023 the 128th Constitution Amendment Bill, referred to as the ‘Nari Shakti Vandan Adhiniyam’ was passed with all 214 members present in the Upper House voting in favour of them. Implementation is expected after the next census and delimitation exercise. The Decadal census which was to be implemented in 2021 has been delayed indefinitely. The question, therefore, remains as to whether there is enough political will to make this commitment a law. This delay also reflects male-dominated legislators’ reluctance to address gender disparities in politics.
Status of Women’s Participation in Politics in India
The number of women MPs elected in the Lok Sabha elections were 58 in 2009, 62 in 2014, 78 in 2019, and 74 in 2024. In 1962, the female voter turnout in Lok Sabha Elections was 46.6%, and by 2024, it significantly increased to 65.8% during the 18th Lok Sabha Elections. The number of women contesting elections has also seen a remarkable rise. In 1957, only 45 women stood as candidates in the Lok Sabha elections. During the 18th Lok Sabha elections, this number had soared to 800, demonstrating an increasing willingness and opportunity for women to participate as political candidates. Women’s representation in legislative bodies has gradually improved. In the Lok Sabha, the number of female representatives was 22 (5%) in 1951, which increased to 74 (13.6%) in 2024. Similarly, female representation in the Rajya Sabha went from 7% in 1952 to 13% in 2023. At the local level, women hold a more significant share of seats. In 2022, women comprised 44% of representatives in local self-government institutions, with a total of 1,375,914 female representatives.
Women in Politics Way Forward
Mandate on Political Parties: Steps can be taken by parties for promoting gender equality within by introducing quotas. Every registered political party should be legally mandated to give one third of the total number of party tickets it distributes at every election to women candidates. Additionally, allocation of funds to women’s wings, and developing a gender action plan for its members.
Selecting women candidates based on merit: Political parties should only give tickets to worthy women candidates based on their merit and credibility. Parties should refrain from giving tickets to the candidates based on money, muscle and family background/political dynasty which only ends up making women as a proxy law-makers thereby defeating the whole purpose of gender equality and role of women in key policy making.
Women’s tokenistic inclusion: This implies male party leaders selecting woman candidates that they can control from behind the scenes. This could be in the form of a defeated or behind the bars male politician making women of their house as their proxy. This leads to close space for dissent, free decision making amongst women leaders and concentration of power in the hands of one or few powerful male politician/(s). Another sad reality of Indian politics is that women often struggle to advance in political parties without the patronage of powerful male leaders. Therefore, bringing courageous, credible and worthy women into National and State politics could be a significant step for women’s representation which inturn would result in making governance more responsive to women’s interests and needs.
Role of Women Organisations: Women’s organisations and networks within political parties and civil society must continue to help women assert their presence within the larger political and social landscape.
Capacity Building and removal of barriers: Continuous training programs and mentorship for women in politics can build confidence and equip them with the necessary skills for governance. Better educational opportunities for women, improved financial stability, greater media awareness and reducing societal cultural and gender prejudices can enhance their political participation.
Promoting Gender Sensitization: Political parties and civil society must advocate for gender sensitisation programs to break societal stereotypes and encourage equal participation of women in governance.
Technological and Financial Support: Endeavour should be made towards providing women with access to digital tools for campaigning and communication along with financial assistance or subsidies for electoral campaigns. Adoption of political finance reforms targeting gender equality are the need of the hour. Gender-targeted public funding may also be considered in salience with other pending reforms. Public funding to political parties can be used as an incentive to level the playing field and increase the number of women candidates or elected women.
For the complete reports in English and Hindi, please see: https://adrindia.org/content/Analysis-of-Sitting-Women-MPs-and-MLAs-of-PAN-India-2025
