Politics and the second sex

Women politicians, the author suggests, bring to politics and policy a sensitivity that most of their male counterparts, at least until a generation back, lacked

She, The Leader: Women In Indian Politics

Author: Nidhi Sharma

Publisher: Aleph

Pages: 363

Price: Rs 999

Only 15 of the 389 members of the Constituent Assembly, which framed the Constitution, were women. But they stridently opposed any reservation for women, arguing that equality alone could be the basis for mutual respect and understanding between genders. In 1966, India had a woman Prime Minister. While it didn’t help improve women’s representation in legislatures, one wonders whether Indira Gandhi, the preeminent of the 17 women politicians the book profiles, Jawaharlal and Kamala Nehru’s only child, would have been as successful a politician if she had had