• Source:JND
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Lok Sabha Elections are just two days away. The polls will begin on April 19 and the whole process will end on June 4 with the announcement of results. Meanwhile, women are a big vote bank for every party and all the parties make all kinds of promises during their campaigns or in their manifesto too to the women. However, when it comes to giving women tickets, the track record of all the parties is very poor, despite the success rate of women in winning elections being better than that of men.

The number of women candidates is quite low in both the biggest national parties, i.e. the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and the Indian National Congress (INC). Out of the total 417 candidates declared so far, BJP has given tickets to only 16 per cent i.e. 68 women. At the same time, Congress has given tickets to only 11 per cent of the total 192 declared candidates i.e. 22 women.

(PM Modi along with other BJP Leaders; Image: ANI)

Regional Parties Have Fielded More Women Candidates

Some regional parties have made excellent efforts in this regard. Biju Janata Dal (BJD) has given maximum tickets to 33 per cent of women. The party has fielded women candidates on 7 out of 21 seats. Trinamool Congress (TMC) has given tickets to 28 per cent of women. Out of a total of 42 candidates of the party, 12 are women.

Number Of Women MPs In 2019 Lok Sabha Polls

Notably, even in the 2019 Lok Sabha elections, the maximum number of women MPs were elected from BJD and TMC. A maximum of 42 per cent of women MPs were elected from BJD, while 39 per cent women MPs were elected from TMC. 18 per cent of women MPs were elected from YSR, 14 per cent from BJP, 11 from Shiv Sena, 8 from DM, and 4 per cent from JDU.

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Number Of Women Candidates Is Increasing

If we compare the participation of women candidates since the first elections of the country, the share of women in the Parliament has continuously increased. In the first election in 1952, out of a total of 489 MPs, 22 were women, which was 4.4 per cent of the total MPs. This number kept increasing with each election and in the 2019 elections, a record-high number of women MPs were elected.

Victory Rate High In Women Candidates

In 2019, the maximum number of 78 women MPs were elected in the 17th Lok Sabha, which was 14 per cent of the total MPs. If we look at the statistics, the record of women in terms of victory has also been better than that of men.

In 1957, 48.88 percent or 22 women out of a total 45 women had won, while in 2019 the success rate was 10.74 percent. In comparison, in 1957, 31.7 percent of men won. In 2019, this figure dropped to only 6.4 percent.