This paper analyses the 2019 general elections and the by-elections that followed in the state of Kerala, India, to discern the changing gender dynamics that produced certain kinds of ‘desirability’ and ‘approval’ around the candidature of women politicians. By tracing the historical trajectory of women's engagement in public politics in the state, this paper attempts to identify the coordinates of evolving gender dynamics that decidedly shape women's political representation. It identifies three specific frameworks such as ‘honorary masculinity, ‘‘relaxed honorary masculinity,’ and ‘welfarist feminine altruism’ in and through which three generations of women politicians entered into public politics and carved out their niches. However, what is striking is that the framework of ‘welfarist feminine altruism’, originated at the local level during the mid-1990s in the context of decentralisation, is getting extended to the state level. It incorporated specific markers of ‘desirability’ that accommodates the current caste and religious identity politics. This has led to effectively push women politicians further towards the margins of mainstream politics. The study thus raises the question of intersectionality in women's political leadership, which is relevant to the contemporary analysis of women's political representation.

本文分析了印度喀拉拉邦的2019年大选及其后的补选，以识别不断变化的性别动态，这些动态在女性政客的候选人资格周围产生了某些``可取性''和``认可性''。通过追踪该州女性参与公共政治的历史轨迹，本文试图确定决定女性政治代表性的不断发展的性别动态的坐标。它确定了三个特定的框架，例如“荣誉男子气概”，“放松荣誉荣誉男子气概”和“福利主义女性利他主义”，三代女性政治家通过这些框架进入公共政治并树立了自己的壁ni。然而，令人惊讶的是“福利主义女性利他主义”的框架，在地方分权的背景下，起源于1990年代中期的地方一级，现在已扩展到州一级。它纳入了“可取性”的特定标记，以适应当前的种姓和宗教身份政治。这有效地推动了女政治家进一步向主流政治边缘发展。因此，该研究提出了女性政治领导力的交叉性问题，这与当代女性政治代表权的分析有关。