Descriptive Representation Without Substantive Empowerment: Caste, Party Influence, Money Power, and Patriarchy in SC Women-Reserved Panchayat Elections in Rural Telangana

Abstract

The 73rd Constitutional Amendment of 1992 mandated reservations for Scheduled Caste (SC) women in Gram Panchayat elections across India, with the intent of achieving both descriptive and substantive political empowerment for historically marginalised communities. This paper examines whether that intent has been realised in practice, drawing on primary data collected from 84 respondents in a rural village in Telangana through a structured questionnaire of 56 items. Using descriptive percentage analysis and cross-tabulations, the study investigates how caste dynamics and intra-SC sub-caste divisions, political party influence, money power and material inducements, and patriarchal norms interact to shape the SC women-reserved Sarpanch election. The findings reveal that 69% of respondents voted along caste lines, 85.7% confirmed active political party involvement in what is constitutionally a non-party election, 71.4% acknowledged that cash and material inducements were distributed, and 64.3% said elected SC women do not function independently after winning office. The paper argues that reservation has succeeded in ensuring descriptive representation - SC women are present in elected positions - but has not produced substantive empowerment, because the four structural forces of caste, party, money, and patriarchy remain largely intact. The study contributes micro-level empirical evidence from Telangana to the broader debate on the limits and possibilities of affirmative action in Indian local governance.