A women-led collective in Kerala has warned political parties to put women in at least one-third of the assembly seats or risk protest voting through NOTA.
Thulya Prathinidhya Prasthanam, which advocates gender equality in politics, on the eve of Women’s Day has put forward five key demands to political parties as the state gears up for the 16th Kerala Assembly elections.
The movement called on political parties to ensure that at least 33% of candidates are women; guarantee the presence of at least one transgender representative at the next assembly; appoint a woman as the next chief minister; allocating one-third of cabinet seats to women and denying party tickets to those accused of sex crimes.
“If the political parties refuse to respond positively to these demands, we will be forced to launch a campaign calling on voters to support only women candidates. In constituencies without women candidates, we will ask voters to press NOTA as a democratic protest,” said movement chairman Professor Kusumam Joseph.
She said the organization had approached major political parties to pledge to field women in at least one-third of assembly constituencies.
Lack of determination
“Unfortunately, the signals coming from the political parties are not encouraging. Despite repeated calls, there is no concrete guarantee of increasing the representation of women,” she said.
The movement pointed out that although the Parliament passed the Women’s Reservation Act in September 2023 to reserve 33% seats for women in Parliament and state legislatures, its implementation is tied to the census and delimitation exercise.
“These conditions could delay the law indefinitely. The LDF and UDF, which had demanded immediate implementation, must now prove their sincerity by voluntarily giving a third of the assembly tickets to women,” Prof Joseph said.
The organization had earlier presented a “Pen Memorial” signed by one million people to the leadership of both fronts ahead of the 2024 Lok Sabha elections, calling for greater representation of women.
“This appeal was simply ignored,” she said.
Movement executive KM Rema highlighted the stark gender imbalance in legislatures, saying deep-rooted male dominance in politics continues to keep women out of power.
When women make up 52% of the population but remain marginal in legislatures even after 75 years of independence, it clearly shows that our democracy is structurally unequal, she said.
“Look at the reality. In the Kerala Assembly, there are only about a dozen women among more than a hundred legislators. The pattern is similar in the Parliament too. When the legislative bodies are predominantly men, it means that the voices and experience of half the population are missing in decision-making,” Ms. Rema pointed out.
Advocacy for transgender people
The movement also highlighted that transgender people are completely absent from legislative institutions. “This is a community that was never even considered for representation in the legislature. Ensuring their presence in the assembly is the need of our time,” the leaders said.
They also demanded that women should have at least one-third representation not only in the lower house, but also in the cabinet.
The organization pointed out that India has seen women as chief ministers in 13 states and said Kerala has never elected a woman to the post despite having capable leaders.
M. Sulfath, the convener of the movement, said that allowing persons accused of sexual violence to enter legislatures would damage the dignity of democratic institutions.
The movement said the NOTA option, recognized by a Supreme Court judgment in 2013, gives voters a democratic way to register their disapproval of political parties. “The use of NOTA is a peaceful but powerful signal to parties that democracy must move beyond male dominance,” the organization said.
Published – 07 March 2026 20:37 IST
