LS polls: Delhi will again have only one woman MP

The national capital continued with its trend of sending only one woman to Parliament as BJP leader Meenakshi Lekhi retained the New Delhi seat in the 2019 Lok Sabha elections.

In the 2014 general election too, Lekhi was the lone woman MP from Delhi, while in 2004 and 2009 Lok Sabha polls, Congress' Krishna Tirath was the only woman candidate who could secure a win.

Of the 164 candidates contesting the polls in Delhi, only 16 were women including Congress veteran and former chief minister Sheila Dikhsit and Aam Aadmi Party's Atishi.

Contesting from the New Delhi Lok Sabha constituency, Lekhi defeated Congress' Ajay Maken by over 2.56 lakh votes.

 

Dikshit lost to Delhi BJP chief Manoj Tiwari by a margin of over 3.66 lakh votes in North East Delhi, Atishi finished third in the triangular contest with cricketer-turned-politician Gautam Gambhir who bagged the pole position and Congress' Arvinder Singh Lovely coming second in East Delhi.

There were thirteen other women candidates who contested the elections either as independents or on behalf of little known parties.

Deepti Chopra from Prism Party, Richa Katiyar Kanaujia from Right to Recall Party and Suman Devi from Bharat Lok Sewak Party were among those in the fray for the electoral battle from Chandni Chowk Lok Sabha constituency.

While Aditi contested from North-West Delhi seat as an independent, Poonam fought on behalf of People's Party of India from West Delhi.

South Delhi Lok Sabha constituency had two women candidates -- Suman Yadav from Jai Maha Bharath Party and Sumedha Bodh from Jan Samman Party -- who took on Congress' Vijender Singh, BJP's Ramesh Bidhuri and AAP's Raghav Chadha.