“A defining moment in our country’s democratic journey!” wrote Prime Minister Narendra Modi on X, formerly Twitter. Although India has had a female prime minister for more than a decade and current President Draupadi Murmu is the second woman to hold this office, the proportion of women in parliament is low. At 15 percent, the country has the lowest percentage of female parliamentarians among the G20 countries.
Despite the broad support, there is also criticism from the opposition. The draft law can only be implemented in practice after the country conducts a new census and reshapes political constituencies, a process that has been halted until 2026.
The fact that the bill has been passed is a boost for Prime Minister Modi in the run-up to next summer’s elections. Since coming to power in 2014, he has regularly positioned himself as a champion of women’s rights. With the new legislation, he may be able to win over more female voters in the fight against the opposition parties. These have formed an alliance to take on Modi in the elections.