India, Nov. 12 -- Justice BV Nagarathna has introduced a gender dimension to the conversation on political and social equality. While hearing a petition seeking a directive from the Supreme Court on women's reservation in Parliament and state assemblies, she drew attention to the fact that women constitute the largest minority in the country, while clarifying that enforcement of the law is the executive's responsibility. Justice Nagarathna, in line to be the first woman chief justice of India in September 2027, is right. Women make up almost 48% of the population, and, collectively, face discrimination that many social minorities do, particularly the lack of proportionate representation in public bodies, including in the judiciary. For instance, only 11 of the 284 Supreme Court judges have been women. The Constitution promises political equality, which must expand beyond the right to vote to include opportunity and representation. India fares poorly on both counts: According to UN Women, the lead United Nations entity on gender equality, the global average of women in parliaments is 27% while it is just 14% in India. It's been over a year since Parliament passed the Women's Reservation Bill (Nari Shakti Vandan Adhiniyam). The Act calls for one-third of all seats in the Lok Sabha and legislative assemblies to be reserved for women, but with the caveat that it will come into effect only after the delimitation of constituencies. That's some way off since the delimitation exercise will follow the census, which is to be completed only in 2027. Clinging to this procedural aspect of the law will unduly delay redress to the gender imbalance in legislatures. Instead, political parties could field more candidates on their own. In fact, political parties such as the BJD and Trinamool Congress have pursued this path with significant success: 38% of Trinamool MPs (11 out of 30) in the 18th Lok Sabha are women; in the 17th Lok Sabha, 42% of the BJD MPs (5 out of 11) were women (no BJD candidate won in the 2024 general election). Similarly, Nitish Kumar implemented a 50% quota for women in Panchayati Raj Institutions in Bihar in 2006, though he has shied away from replicating the policy or showing the same intent in assembly and Lok Sabha polls. Political parties have discovered that women respond positively in elections to tailored incentives and now perceive them as a vote bank. That's not enough, though: Parties must focus on agency. As Justice Nagarathna said, this is about the political equality of women and about the right to representation. The predominantly male political class must show more urgency....