Women’s Political Representation And Leadership: A Study With Special Reference To Assam

The Constitution of India guarantees equal political opportunities both for men and women. As women are equal citizens and therefore should share equally with men in decision making processes. The political participation, representation and share in public decision making determine the status of women in society. It has been observed that the political participation of women as an elected representative in the legislatures is very insignificant in most of the parts of the world. Especially, in India where women constitute half of the population, the overall percentage of political representation of women and their share in decision making bodies is very negligible. Undoubtedly, a few women from strong political antecedents have been holding high level executive and political post in the decision making bodies; but it does not reveal the political, social or economic empowerment of women. Women’s political participation and representation are highly desirable in a healthy democracy as the political participation and representation are regarded as the pillars of a successful democracy. In this context, the paper attempts to study the political representation and leadership potentialities of women of Assam from 1952 to 2021.