New Delhi: Lok Sabha polls are underway in the country. Out of the seven phases, polling in two have already taken place. There are a total of 543 parliamentary constituencies. Out of these, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has so far announced candidates on 434 seats while Congress has fielded candidates on 317.
However, the participation of women MP candidates are not impressive in both parties.
Out of the total declared candidates so far, women candidates share in the saffron party is 16 per cent while Congress has 14 per cent. This means that there is one woman candidate in every 7 in the BJP and one woman representative in every 6 candidates in the ‘Grand Old Party’. Taking a look at some more data, between 2004 and 2019, a total of 1934 male MPs and 248 women MPs were elected to the Parliament.
Moreover, out of the total 543 seats, there are 349 seats in the country from where no women candidate has ever been elected in the last 20 years.
In the last four Lok Sabha elections, the BJP has sent 99 women MPs to the Parliament, Congress has sent 46, TMC 25, BJD 8, CPM 7, YSR Congress 6, Shiv Sena 6, NCP 6, DMK 6, BSP 6, AIADMK 4, JDU 3, Independents 3, TRS 3, LJP 2, PDP 2, RLD 2.
