New Delhi, April 15 -- The right of women to vote is a hallmark of the modern political system and a fundamental right born of protracted global struggle. From the mid-1880s campaigns in England to the mockery faced by Henry Hunt in 1832 when he presented Mary Smith's petition for female suffrage to Parliament, the path was never easy. It took John Stuart Mill's seminal 1869 work, The Subjection of Women, to argue formally for gender equality in the British legislature. While New Zealand became the first nation to grant women national voting rights in 1893, it set off a global domino effect that reshaped the 20th and 21st centuries.

The Indian Context

In India, the roots of women's enfranchisement are deeply intertwined with the nationalist movement. The Swadeshi movement in Bengal first brought the question of women's suffrage to the forefront. Influenced by both English education and the global suffrage movement, the Women's Indian Association, established in Madras in 1917, demanded an "enlarged role for women in public life."

While women gained limited voting rights between 1920 and 1930, the Government of India Act of 1935 expanded these rights further. However, it remained a restricted franchise; the Act enfranchised only one woman for every five men and introduced 41 reserved seats in provincial legislatures-a move opposed by many women leaders who sought universal, equal status rather than colonial categorisation.

Rise of the Woman Voter

Post-Independence, India witnessed a slow but steady ascent of the female electorate. In 1952, there were 7.7 crore women voters; by 2014, that number surged to 39.6 crore. More importantly, the participation gap has narrowed:

* 1957: Women's turnout was 39 per cent (compared to 56 per cent for men).

* 2019: The share of women electors rose to 48.6 per cent.

* 2024: A historic milestone was reached as women's turnout (65.8 per cent) finally overtook male turnout (65.6 per cent).

Crisis of the SIR

Despite these gains, the current Special Intensive Revision (SIR)-aimed at updating rolls across 12 states and UTs covering 51 crore voters-appears to be reversing the tide. While SIR is meant to "clean" the lists, the data suggests a disproportionate impact on women. 

An internal investigation by The Hindu reveals a startling correlation: constituencies with the highest female turnout have seen the greatest number of women subsequently deleted from the rolls.

Triple Whammy

Mass deletions are often attributed to administrative technicalities, such as women changing their surnames after marriage. If officials follow rigid rules without considering social realities, the result is systemic disenfranchisement. Of the 3.5 crore voters deleted across several states (excluding UP and Chhattisgarh), roughly 58 per cent are women.

As Yogendra Yadav argues, the Indian woman's political clout has historically suffered from a "double whammy": the missing girl child (demographic) and under-enfranchisement (registration). The current SIR has introduced a "triple whammy": the active disenfranchisement of women who were already on the rolls.

Conclusion

This trend stands in direct opposition to India's commitment to the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) regarding gender equality. With the government moving toward a special session to modify the Women's Reservation Act for immediate implementation, there is a clear state agenda for empowerment. However, if the foundational right-the right to be on the voter list-is eroded by administrative "cleaning," the promise of political equality remains a distant dream. Ensuring that "Nari Shakti" (woman power) translates to the ballot box requires more than just legislation; it requires an electoral roll that protects, rather than purges, the female vote.

Views expressed are personal. Felix Raj is the Vice Chancellor, Prabhat Kumar Datta is an Adjunct Professor, both at St. Xavier's University, Kolkata

Published by HT Digital Content Services with permission from Millennium Post.