Four main parties in Maharashtra polls field 46 women for 288 seats

As many as 150 women are contesting the Assembly election in Maharashtra, and less than a third of them are from the four main political parties.

The ruling BJP-Shiv Sena and opposition Congress-NCP have fielded 46 women candidates for the October 21 election for the 288-member house.

The overall number of women candidates too is dismal, considering that they account for only 4.6 per cent of the total 3,239 candidates in the fray.

The BJP has fielded the highest number of women, 17, including ten who are sitting MLAs. Its ally Sena has fielded seven.

Congress has fielded 14 women while NCP has given tickets to eight women.

In 2014, there were 277 women among 4,119 candidates. Only twenty women won and entered the assembly.