As the parliament passed the Women’s Reservation Bill on Sept 21, it is inevitable to look at the numbers back home of female representation in the state’s assembly.

Gujarat Vidhansabha houses a relatively lower number of women MLAs (Members of Legislative Assembly), which doesn’t even account for 10% of the assembly.

Female representation in Gujarat State Assembly

After the Women’s Reservation Bill 2023, or the ‘Nari Shakti Vandan Adhiniyam Bill', was passed with a clear majority in the Lok Sabha, the Rajya Sabha unanimously gave nod to the bill as well in the late hours of Sept 21.

But a look at the numbers in Gujarat paints a different picture of female representation in the legislature. 

Gujarat houses 14 female MLAs, which account for 9.1% of the overall assembly strength of 182 members.

This number has been falling behind several states in the country. Tripura, with 60 seats, houses 15% female MLAs, while Chhattisgarh, with 90 seats, has 14.4% female MLAs. The same is true for West Bengal, with 294 seats, which houses 13.7% female MLAs; Jharkhand, with 81 seats, houses 12.4% female MLAs; and Rajasthan, with 200 seats, houses 12% female MLAs.

Ever since the state’s foundation in 1960 and the first elections in 1962, the number of female representatives in the assembly has stayed relatively low.

Number of female MLAs in the first five state assembly elections:

1962 - 11

1967 - 8

1972 - 1

1975 - 3

1980 - 5

Female representation in other states’ Vidhansabha

The highest number of female MLAs in a state assembly is seen in Uttar Pradesh, with 47 MLAs out of 403 seats, which adds up to 11.7%.

It is followed by West Bengal’s number of female MLAs, which is 40 out of the 294 seats in the state.

Percentage of female representation in state assemblies:

Female representation in 2019 Lok Sabha

On the national level, the 2019 Lok Sabha elections saw 78 female MPs (Members of Parliament) in the house.

Odisha’s Biju Patnaik implemented the 33% female reservation in the allotment of seats, which saw the party’s seven female candidates emerge victorious.

In Gujarat, all six female candidates emerged victorious for the BJP out of the state’s 26 seats.

For more such updates and news on the go, follow us on

Instagram | YouTube | Facebook