Women: The real losers in Northeast polls as representation declines

While the national-ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has made unprecedented electoral gains in India’s northeast after assembly elections in Meghalaya, Tripura and Nagaland, women’s representation remains below India’s average and has declined further in Meghalaya and Tripura, according to an IndiaSpend analysis of electoral data.

Barely 3 per cent, or six of 180 seats, across the three state assemblies (60 seats for each state) have gone to women–three each in Meghalaya and Tripura and none in Nagaland, show election data in this March 2018 report by the Association for Democratic