Indian Politics & misogyny

Every few years, Indian politics reminds us that misogyny is still alive and kicking in Indian politics. The latest controversy involves derogatory, double-meaning remarks allegedly directed at actor Trisha Krishnan, who is Tamil Nadu Chief Minister’s partner.

In Indian politics, when a man cannot defeat another man, he attacks the woman associated with him. Our political vocabulary is littered with women who have become political ammunition.

Remember Narendra Modi’s infamous ‘Rs. 50-crore girlfriend’ remark about late Sunanda Pushkar?

The phrase may have been constructed from facts, as at that time Sunanda was indeed Shashi Tharoor’s girlfriend and she was reportedly allotted sweat equity worth around Rs. 50 crore in a Kochi IPL team. But what made it objectionable was its intent. It was delivered with sarcasm, malice and disrespect.

Truth, criticism and satire have a place in democracy, but not humiliation. Modi, in an attempt to embarrass Tharoor and the Congress party, ended up humiliating a lady. She became the ammunition.

That said, Tharoor cannot escape scrutiny either. When politics and commercial interests collide, they inevitably attract suspicion, mudslinging and character assassination.

Knowing this, he nevertheless placed the woman he loved in the middle of a political battlefield. In that sense, he too bears responsibility for exposing Sunanda to public humiliation.

Women have always paid a disproportionate price in Indian politics. Jayalalithaa was physically pushed away from MGR’s funeral procession before enduring years of crude insinuations from her political opponent, DMK chief  M. Karunanidhi, who himself had three wives!

It’s ironic that Stalin Jr., M. Karunanidhi’s grandson, in spite of having three grandmothers, still couldn’t stop himself from belittling a woman to battle another man. He used Trisha as ammunition.   

Similarly, Mayawati repeatedly faced demeaning comments about her relationship with BSP founder late Kanshi Ram.

The feisty Uma Bharti too endured similar slanderous comments about her relationship with BJP leader Govindacharya.

Worse is when women politicians hurt their own. Many may recall how Congress leader Supriya Shrinate shared a social media handle derogating BJP MP and actor Kangana Ranaut as a sex worker with a photo of her in a corset.

Then there is the digital battlefield. A 2019 study analysing tweets during the 2019 General Election found that Indian women politicians received, on average, more than a hundred abusive or problematic tweets every day, far higher than their counterparts in many other democracies.

What is remarkable is not the abuse itself. It is the hypocrisy surrounding it.

When Sunanda Pushkar was called a ‘Rs. 50-crore girlfriend’, Congress leader Digvijay Singh declared that the insult was directed not merely at Sunanda but at “the entire women community.”

Where is that outrage when your I.N.D.I. Alliance partner Udhayanidhi Stalin insults a woman? Why does indignation disappear when the offender belongs to one’s own political camp?

In Indian politics, misogyny is condemned when it hurts one’s allies and excused when it hurts one’s opponents. Women are defended not because it is the right thing to do, but because they belong to a particular party.

Ironically, while political parties compete for headlines over student protests, one issue that could genuinely transform the status of women has quietly disappeared from public debate, which is the Women’s Reservation Bill.

After the Constitution (131st Amendment) Bill, 2026, aimed at fast-tracking a 33 percent reservation for women in Parliament failed to pass the Lok Sabha, there has been little urgency to revive it.

India certainly needs more women in politics, not because women are morally superior to men but because democracy functions better when power is more representative.

We need leaders such as Jayalalithaa and Mamata Banerjee who have demonstrated that they can give as good as they get. They have earned authority through political skill and resilience.

But political representation alone is not enough. Real empowerment begins with economic independence.

A McKinsey study estimated that increasing women’s participation in India’s workforce by just 10 percent could add nearly 770 billion dollars to India’s GDP.

Women entrepreneurs also consistently outperform men in loan repayments, with repayment rates of 80 to 90 percent in money- lending programmes. That should change how banks, Governments and society view women not as beneficiaries of welfare, but as creators of wealth.

Encouragingly, women entrepreneurs are already proving their potential. Airbnb in 2024 reported that Indian women that year earned nearly Rs. 260 crore by playing hosts.

Evidence points to the fact that educated, financially independent women build stronger families, healthier communities and more resilient economies.

They also raise children who are less likely to believe that abusing a woman is an acceptable substitute for debating an idea.

The battle against misogyny will not be won through FIRs, television debates or selective political outrage.

It will be won when women possess enough political influence and economic power that reducing them to political ammunition becomes politically expensive.

Empower a woman and you improve a family. Empower millions of women and you transform a nation.

e-mail: vikram@starofmysore.com