India, April 7 -- An all-party consensus marked the passage of the Nari Shakti Vandan Adhiniyam in Parliament in 2023. The Act reserves 33% of seats in the Lok Sabha and state legislative assemblies for women. A special sitting of Parliament is due this month to fast-track its implementation. But the candidates' lists of major political parties in the four states and one Union territory going to the polls this month tell a different story: None of the main parties in the fray - the BJP, Congress, Trinamool Congress, DMK, AIADMK, CPM, CPI, and Muslim League, among others - meet the 33% quota, or even 20%. The gap smacks of doublespeak.

It is disturbing that parties will adhere to principles of representation only if forced by the law. The...