Lok Sabha Elections 2024: This is the first general election since the passage of the Women's Reservation Bill in 2023, which reserved one-third of seats in the Lok Sabha and state assemblies for women. The Bill has yet to come into effect.
As many as 150 Lok Sabha constituencies have zero women candidates this election season, according to a report. This means that about 27.6 percent of the 543 Lok Sabha seats have no women in the fray.
About 14.4 percent of candidates nominated by state parties were female. Among the national parties, this figure is 11.8 percent, said the report compiled by the Quantum Hub (TQH), a New Delhi-based public policy research and consulting firm.
Only 7.1 percent of Independent candidates were women, the report said.
The Lok Sabha Elections 2024 saw participation of 799 women, which is about 9.5 percent of the 8,360 candidates in the 2024 general elections.
This is the first general election since the passage of the women's reservation bill, which reserved one-third of seats in Lok Sabha and state assemblies for women. The bill has yet to come into effect.
The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leads among the major parties with 69 women Lok Sabha nominees out of 440, making up 16 per cent of its total candidates. The Congress follows with 41 women out of 327 candidates, constituting 13 percent.
From 7% in 2009 to 9.5% women in 2024
However, there has been an increase in the number of women candidates contesting general elections over the years. In the 2009 Lok Sabha elections, there were 556 women candidates, making up 7 percent of the total 7,810 candidates.
This number increased to 640 (8 percent of 8,205) in 2014 and to 716 (9 percent of 7,928) in 2019, according to data compiled by the election watchdog Association for Democratic Reforms (ADR). In the 2024 general elections, 9.5 percent of the total candidates in the fray are women.
Odisha takes the lead
Among states with at least 100 candidates, Odisha, West Bengal and Chhattisgarh had the highest share of women candidates, at 15.4 percent, 13.8 percent, and 13.2 percent, respectively. Rajasthan (7.1 percent), Haryana (7.2 percent), and Gujarat (7.2 percent) had the lowest share, the TQH report said. The smaller states of Manipur and Nagaland had no female candidates, it said.
The Baramati seat in Maharashtra and Warangal seat in Telangana had the most number of women candidates (8 each), followed by Karur in Tamil Nadu and Kolkata in West Bengal, with seven women candidates each.
Polling for 486 of the 543 Lok Sabha seats was completed after the sixth phase on May 25. The BJP-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA) is seeking a record third term. The ruling alliance is challenged by the opposition parties led by the Congress under the banner of the INDIA bloc.
Voters from 57 Lok Sabha constituencies spread across eight states and Union Territories will exercise their franchise in the seventh and final phase of polling on Saturday, June 1, marking the end of the about 44-day-long polling exercise.
The results of Lok Sabha Elections 2024 will be declared on June 4.