61 women make it to Lok Sabha in 2014 against 59 in 2009

There is marginal improvement in the number of women candidates winning Parliamentary elections. In the Parliamentary election in 2009, there were 59 candidates who won the election. In the current elections, 61 women have secured seats in Lok Sabha. This is the highest ever number of seats won by women ever and comprises 11.23 per cent of the total 543 seats. The lowest ever was in 1977 when only 19 women representatives won elections.

People of West Bengal have elected maximum number of women parliamentarians. The state has elected 14 women MPs compared to seven in the 2009 parliamentary election. Mamta Banerjee-led Trinamool Congress fielded maximum number of women candidates as compared to other political parties this election.

Tamil Nadu that elected only one woman MP in the last election has elected four MPs this time.

Not a single woman has won an MP seat from Jharkhand, Haryana and Meghalaya.
 
There were around 17 women candidates in the election fray in Jharkhand. But as many as 16 candidates lost their security deposits because they could not secure the requisite one-sixth of the valid votes.

Dayamani Barla, the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) candidate who contested election from Khunti parliamentary constituency, said that winning and losing is a part of elections. “What matters most is the participation in the elections,” she said.

Two women candidates had won in Haryana and one  in Meghalaya in the 2009 elections.

In the current elections there were 636 out of the 8,136 women in the fray were women. In the 2009 elections there were 556 women contestants out of total of 8,070.

Uttar Pradesh has maintained its record. In 2009, 13 women MPs won election; this year also as many were elected to Parliament.

Women open account in J&K, Kerala, Odisha

Jammu and Kashmir, Kerala, Odisha that had no representation of women in Parliament has done better. One woman candidate each from Jammu and Kashmir and Kerala and three from Odisha will be in Parliament.

According to PRS Legislative Research, an independent research organisation based in Delhi,women candidates had a better strike rate than male candidates. Ten per cent of women candidates won election against the strike rate of 6 per cent for male candidates.

Women candidates also have an edge over male candidates when it comes to education. Thirty-two per cent of women MPs have a postgraduate or doctoral degree, 30 per cent of male MPs have similar educational qualifications.

PRS survey also reveals that women MPs elected in the present elections are younger than the male MPs. Average age of women MPs is 47 years but average age of male MPs is 54 years. Also, there are no women MPs who are above the age of 70 years. Seven per cent of male MPs are over 70 years.
 

Subscribe to Daily Newsletter :

SUPPORT US

We are a voice to you; you have been a support to us. Together we build journalism that is independent, credible and fearless. You can further help us by making a donation. This will mean a lot for our ability to bring you news, perspectives and analysis from the ground so that we can make change together.