As electioneering for Assembly polls in the five states of West Bengal, Tamil Nadu, Kerala, Assam and Puducherry gathers steam, women have become targets of online trolling and social media attacks.
There are no exceptions. Political speeches, in particular, have been crossing all lines of decency and the distinction between what is public and private stands blurred.
Recently, in Tamil Nadu, Ponraj Vellaichamy, former advisor to ex-President APJ Abdul Kalam, created a furore after he referred to women cadre of actor-turned-politician Vijay-led Tamilaga Vettri Kazhagam (TVK) as "sex workers". It led to Vijay lodging a police complaint against Ponraj.
Similarly, when Vijay's wife, Sangeetha Sornalingam, filed a petition for divorce in February, alleging that Vijay was involved in an adulterous relationship with an actress, both Sangeetha and the actress faced backlash and distasteful comments on social media. While Sangeetha was accused of being a "DMK pawn" out to taint Vijay's political ambitions, the actress was labelled a "homewrecker".
In Tamil Nadu again, Congress MP S Jothimani in February shared a video purportedly showing BJP Karur district president Senthil Nathan making objectionable comments against her and MP Rahul Gandhi. She described his speech as "obscene and deeply repulsive", stating that it was made with full awareness and intent.
Former AIADMK minister and Rajya Sabha MP CV Shanmugam made equally repugnant remarks about an actress while addressing a gathering demanding women’s safety.
He said, "APJ Abdul Kalam asked people to dream. Chief Minister MK Stalin has gone a step further and has asked us to tell him his dreams. What if someone says they want (actor's name)? Will the Chief Minister arrange that? He (pointing to a person nearby) may ask for his marriage to be arranged with the actor. Will Stalin fulfill that?"
It's not Tamil Nadu alone. In neighbouring Kerala recently, A Irshad, a leader of the Indian Union Muslim League and Kayamkulam UDF convener, claimed that the LDF candidate U Prathibha for the Kayamkulam constituency was "selling" her eloquence and beauty for a third win from the seat. He also accused the MLA of not doing any work for the people.
For Ramya Haridas, a former Congress MP and the party’s candidate from the Chirayinkeezhu assembly constituency in Kerala, targeted social media attacks are not new. From the early days of her political career, she has faced sexist remarks and sustained trolling that questioned her competence, mocked her Dalit identity, and reduced her to a "singer".
Move over to poll-bound West Bengal and even the formidable Mamata isn't immune from misogynistic remarks.
Actor-politician Mithun Chakraborty triggered a controversy after making remarks about the Chief Minister during a political rally at Kolkata's Brigade Parade Ground ahead of the assembly elections.
Chakraborty said, "Last time a hand broke, this time something else will break. You should be prepared. There might be speeches from the ICU asking for votes for Trinamool."
The comments drew sharp criticism from the Trinamool Congress (TMC), which alleged that they were sexist and disrespectful. The party condemned the statement as "outrageous", "irresponsible" and reflective of "toxic misogyny", and accused Chakraborty of using gendered rhetoric against Banerjee during the election campaign.
Further north east, during the panchayat election campaigns in Assam in early 2025, Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma said that under the Congress regime, women were forced to "lose their chastity" to secure government jobs.
Dr Lakshmi Sukumar, Associate Professor at the Institute of English, University of Kerala, is categorical about where the blame lies.
She said, "In any institutionalised space, in one way or another, there is a patriarchal structure that conditions the entire system."
She added that in the case of women politicians, their work and reforms are "reduced to the idea of them being a woman".
"Any initiative a woman leader takes is reduced to her body, or the kind of way in which she dresses up or how she voices concerns," she said.
She further noted that there are attempts to "dilute" or "delegitimise" political interventions by female politicians, and they are sadly left to deal with "sleazy" or "voyeuristic attention".
Dr Lakshmi also explained how these politicians are subjected to "double marginalisation" wherein they experience discrimination based on their gender and caste.
She noted, "Women belonging to certain caste groups and class structures are critiqued and they have to go through a different kind of social scrutiny."
Dr Lakshmi highlighted how female family members of politicians also become targets of abuse. She said that in several instances, female family members are "dragged" into public discourse involving allegations and targeted attacks against a male politician.
"This is a kind of a spillover effect, a spillover violence where women, who may not be directly connected to political figures or into politics, are dragged into allegations."
Taken together, these instances point to a pattern that goes beyond regional and political lines, and where the language used against women in public life often slips into commentary on their bodies, personal lives, and identities.
She also mentioned that gendered targeting often demoralises and discourages women from entering public life. And if they manage to survive this and get in, they then have to put up with "surveillance" by the larger society.
Dr Lakshmi noted that while criticism and trolls are always part of a politician's life, "The language used or images brought into focus when it is a woman, are quite disparaging".
A lot of these remarks and comments, she said, are made because "it is a woman politician and only because it is a woman politician".
It's an observation the whole of India must reflect upon with shame and mull over.
