The odds are stacked heavily against women in politics. They are up against strong, entrenched and largely patriarchal lobbies in political parties. A woman has to be part of a lobby to succeed—a lobby which will push her case for a ticket from a winnable seat and back her. It is difficult to fight the power of men in politics which has become a money game. Thousands of crores are at stake.

Also, men feel threatened by women who are intelligent and articulate. They get alarmed; more so if the woman is single and independent. It becomes difficult for a woman to become part of a lobby without eyebrows being raised. Even if she has proved herself with sheer stint of hard-work, it will still be difficult for her to be accepted. The question then is who will bell the cat? Motives are attributed to anyone in the party who takes the call to give her a ticket. It is a Catch 22 situation.

There is a gruelling process in place for distribution of tickets. Leaders talk about gender equality but it is not seen during selection of candidates. They will talk about...