Indian women are relatively disempowered and they enjoy lower status than that of men from times immemorial. Gender gap exists regarding access to education and employment. It is found that acceptance of unequal gender norms by women are still prevailing in the society. The Indian Constitution not only grants equality to women, but also empowers the State to adopt measures of positive discrimination in favour of women. Empowerment is one of the key factors in determining their success. Though women form a sizable part of India's population, their political representation and participation is definitely below the mark. The fact that women are grossly under-represented at the political level in Central and State government, is a testimony to lack of political power in the hands of women. In this paper attempt is made to analyze the women representation in general elections and in assembly elections inn Haryana.
political participation, women empowerment, reservation, general elections, political activism
