Women Representation in Kerala Assembly Never Crossed 10 per cent in Six Decades

Considered a progressive state, Kerala has never had a woman chief minister, nor women representation in the Assembly ever touched the 10 per cent-mark in the last six decades, data from the Election Commission of India revealed.

So far, a total of 88 women have been elected to the Kerala Assembly between 1957 and 2016, including nine from seats reserved for Scheduled Castes and three Scheduled Tribe-reserved constituencies.

The maximum number of women – 13 — were elected to the 140-member Kerala Assembly in 1996, accounting for 9.28 percent of the strength.

While there were fewer women in the Kerala Assembly, there was one woman who was elected to the House at least 11 times. KR Gowri, Kerala’s first revenue minister became a legislator in 1957. Also known as Gowri Amma, her winning streak continued in the subsequent elections of 1960, 1965, 1967, 1970, 1980, 1982, 1987, 1991, 1996 and 2001. Founder of Janadhipathya Samrakshana Samithi (JPSS), Gowri is the sole surviving member of the 1957 cabinet.

In the 2016 Assembly election, there were 110 women in the fray of whom only eight (5.71 percent) made it to the legislature, while 79 of them lost their deposit. Among those elected were five from the Communist Party of India-Marxist (CPI-M), including Health Minister KK Shailaja who has been at the forefront of the state’s fight against the coronavirus, and three from the Communist Party of India (CPI). She is one of the two female ministers in Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan’s cabinet.

In the 1957 election, six women were elected — three each from the Congress and CPI. There were nine women in the fray that year.

In 1960, seven women were elected to the House — five from the Congress and two from the CPI — out of 13 in fray.

In 1965, the number of women contenders dropped to 10 of whom three were elected to the Assembly — two from the CPM and one from the Kerala Congress. The 1965 election was considered abortive as no single party could manage to touch the majority mark.

The state went for polls again in 1967. Only one woman, Gowri Amma, from the CPI-M was elected to the House out of seven in the fray.

In the 1970 election, two women — one independent and one from the CPI-M (Gowri Amma) were elected to the Assembly.

Of the 11 women in the fray in 1977, only one woman– Bhargavi Thankappan — from the CPI was elected to the Assembly.

Five of the 13 women made it to the legislature in the next election held in 1980. One each from the Janata Party and CPI and two women from the CPI-M were elected along with an independent.

In 1982, four women were elected to the Assembly — two from the CPI-M and one from CPI, along with an independent candidate — out of 17 in the contest.

Eight women each were elected to the House in 1987, out of 34 in the fray, and 1991 out of 26 contenders.

Among those elected in 1987, three were from the Congress, two each from the CPI and CPI-M and one independent.

In 1991, five from the Congress, two from CPI-M and one from the CPI were elected.

In 1996, when Kerala elected the highest number of women, 13 out of 17 in the fray, five were from the CPI-M, four from the Congress, three from the CPI and one from the JPSS.

Eight women made it to the next Assembly in 2001 out of 54 in contention. Five were from the Congress, two from the CPI-M and one from the JPSS.

Seven women each were elected to the Assembly in 2006 and 2011.

Out of 70 in the fray in 2006, six from the CPI-M and one from the CPI were elected.

In 2011, there were 83 women contenders of whom three were from the CPI-M, two from the CPI and one each from Janata Dal (Secular) and Congress were elected.

Kerala has again voted on April 6 for the 140-member Assembly. This time, there were 105 (11 percent) women candidates out of total 957 candidates. The election results will be declared on May 2.

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