ABSTRACT
It is an irony of fate that as India celebrates its 75th anniversary of independence, as the largest democracy of the world, we need to ask: ‘Where are the women' in the federal polity at the state level. They seem to be lost in the vortex of masculine politics. This edited volume is the first of its kind on women in state politics which presents this irony covering 16 states and all regions. Women in national politics in India have of late been engaging the attention of the scholars but there are hardly any studies on women in state politics reflecting the gender dynamics and perspectives in the broader context of the assertion of the states in national politics. The present volume is an attempt to address this gap. Women's political participation at the state level is discussed in the context of the social composition and economic development of the states, movement politics, major issues of governance, and the question of gender. It critically examines the issues of women's minuscule representation in legislative assemblies, women's voting, barriers faced by women in formal politics, women's participation in informal politics, the issue of reservation, and women's issues in the UN framework.
