A Member of Parliament who does not belong to or represent a political
party is called an Independent according to Factsheet 3.18 regarding The
Role of an Independent Member of Parliament (Government Australia).
It seems in India the role of
independents has reduced drastically since independence. It becomes important
to note that if you want to win an election in India, better be associated with
a political party.
Below graph shows the
participation of independents in Lok Sabha (India Lower House):
Figures for the above chart:
Lok Sabha
|
1
|
2
|
3
|
4
|
5
|
6
|
7
|
8
|
9
|
10
|
11
|
12
|
13
|
14
|
15
|
16
|
Independent
|
36
|
25
|
20
|
35
|
15
|
7
|
4
|
9
|
8
|
1
|
11
|
6
|
7
|
6
|
11
|
3
|
Total
|
543
|
534
|
540
|
553
|
553
|
557
|
566
|
567
|
534
|
555
|
551
|
546
|
568
|
585
|
560
|
541
|
Source for above chart and table:
The reduction
of independents results into:
- Lack of independent decision makers regarding political
issues
- Increase in the party members who will follow
the high command diktat
- Lesser confidence of success for ordinary
citizens standing in elections as independent
As a citizen I believe percentage of independents should not have reduced.
Further, let us see where women
as a percentage of total members of Lok Sabha have fared:
Lok Sabha
|
Total Members
|
Women
|
%
|
1
|
543
|
24
|
4%
|
2
|
534
|
24
|
4%
|
3
|
540
|
37
|
7%
|
4
|
553
|
33
|
6%
|
5
|
553
|
28
|
5%
|
6
|
557
|
21
|
4%
|
7
|
566
|
32
|
6%
|
8
|
567
|
45
|
8%
|
9
|
534
|
28
|
5%
|
10
|
555
|
42
|
8%
|
11
|
551
|
41
|
7%
|
12
|
546
|
44
|
8%
|
13
|
568
|
52
|
9%
|
14
|
586
|
52
|
9%
|
15
|
560
|
64
|
11%
|
16
|
539
|
63
|
12%
|
Source: Same as
mentioned in independents.
Considering female
gender being 47% (approximately) of population and with removal of women
parliamentarians (relatives - i.e. female) of existing male politicians there
is gross under representation of women in public policy making.
Here we have to
understand that oldest political party in India was / is led by women for a
long period i.e. Indira Gandhi and Sonia Gandhi.
References:
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