Shakti – Fighting For More Political Power To Women

The participation of women voters is predicted to increase in the election to be held this year but is there any equality when it comes to the number of women candidates? Absolutely not. Well, now there’s a group that has set out to enable more women to get elected as MPs and MLAs. Called Shakti – Political Power To Women, the group consists of women who have a long term objective and are passionate about creating public pressure to see more women leaders in politics. Having no affiliations with any political party, the group was formed in October 2018 in the presence of political aspirants, women pursuing careers in politics, journalists, intersectional gender researchers, grassroots activists working with women in local bodies, and others.

The Fight For Balance

Shakti was launched nationally in February this year. The group has started the Call women MLAs campaign and Call your MP campaign as part of which it has started various online petitions. Trying to reach out to the masses, the group also announced the Shakti-Neta App survey which saw a huge response from rural, urban, women, men and youth demographic. The response to the question "Do you want more women MPs in Lok Sabha in 2019" was an emphatic 82.2% YES across 24 states!

The Women Behind Shakti

The women behind this initiative are Author & Activist Tara Krishnaswamy, Political Activist Rajeshree Nagarsekar, ex-CEO Oxfam Nisha Agarwal, CERI Co-founder Jyoti Raj, Women’s Rights Lawyer Flavia Agnes and many others who have chosen to lead a crusade against gender inequality in the political arena.

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What Are The Resolutions Of Shakti?

• To put public pressure on political parties for 50% women candidates in 2019 Lok Sabha elections
• To promote women candidates during the 2019 Lok Sabha elections
• To pass a Women’s Representation Assurance Policy in the Lok Sabha 2018 Winter Session, derived from Women’s Reservation Bill discussions

Tara Krishnaswamy, co-founder of Shakti says, "The natural progression of women into Parliament has gone from 24 women MPs in 1952 to 66 in 2014, amounting to not even one women MP added per year! We have no choice as citizens but to exert public pressure on political parties and exhort voters to vote for balance. Women candidates are more winnable in Lok Sabha elections, and in every single General Election since 1952, as the Election Commission data shows."

Shakti is asking for the creation of a gender balance, the conversion of our existing ‘Man-liament’ into a ‘Parliament’. After the creation of an all women’s party to contest elections and the pitch by various political parties to work for women’s welfare, looks like the cause in favour of women has gained more steam. With women candidates faring better than men in elections, hope this initiative will be an eye-opener for the political parties.

Want to know what the common women have to say about voting or the ideas of first-time voters, then keep reading Her Zindagi’s election series to #BeAware and #BeSmart.