ABSTRACT
This chapter examines women’s opinions on political issues and their attitudes towards politics and political parties. It looks at this phenomenon through the prism of women’s socio-economic position and argues that these identity factors shape women’s opinions and attitudes towards politics and political issues. Most women have their party preferences in mind, as close to 7 out of 10 women surveyed like one or another party. The BJP’s popularity among women is also rising as two-fifths of the women surveyed who did initially not like the BJP have started liking the party. At the same time, one-third of the women surveyed also believe that political parties in India do not focus on issues important to women. One highlight that needs a special mention here is that compared to past decades, women have become opinionated on critical political issues and have started sharing their opinions. Women have emerged as rational voters, as while voting, they prioritize the work of the candidate, followed by their experience over other factors such as a party of the candidate, the candidate’s age or their gender.
