India, April 11 -- On newspaper front page ads, the BJP is listing its various accomplishments for women, from clean water to toilets and homes. In Kerala, the Congress's Rahul Gandhi is pitching for a woman chief minister, even though there are just nine women among the 92 candidates his party fielded in the assembly elections. In Tamil Nadu, rivals DMK and AIADMK are topping up unconditional cash transfers with promises of home appliances.

Who doesn't love women at election time when they have demonstrated innumerable times their power and heft to swing results?

Yet, for all their talk about empowering women, in one aspect every party, national or regional, east or west, displays a predictable stinginess - a reluctance to share power ...