Lok Sabha elections: Women 8% of total candidates in phase 1 on April 19

Chhattisgarh, Jammu and Kashmir, Lakshadweep, Manipur, Nagaland, and Tripura are going to polls with no women candidates

The first phase of the Lok Sabha elections on April 19 will have 134 women candidates – eight per cent of the total,  according to a report in the Hindustan Times (HT).

The phase has 102 seats where 1,625 candidates are in fray, including 1,491 males. In the first phase, 21 states and the union territories (UTs) will go to polls. These include Andaman and Nicobar Islands with 12 candidates (2 women) candidates, Arunachal Pradesh with 14 (including one woman), Assam with 35 candidates (including four women), and Bihar with 38 candidates (including three women).

Madhya Pradesh with 88 candidates (seven women candidates), Maharashtra with 97 candidates (seven women), Meghalaya with 10 candidates (two women), Mizoram with six candidates (only one women), Puducherry with 26 candidates (three women), Rajasthan with 114 candidates (12 women), Sikkim with 14 candidates (only one women), Uttar Pradesh with 80 candidates (seven women), Uttarakhand with 55 candidates (four women), and West Bengal with 37 candidates (four women)., will go to polls in the upcoming Lok Sabha elections 2024.

 

Six places, namely Chhattisgarh, Jammu and Kashmir, Lakshadweep, Manipur, Nagaland, and Tripura have 11, 12, 4, 10, 3, and 9 candidates contesting in the elections, respectively, with no women candidates.

According to HT, the largest number of candidates in the first phase polls are in Tamil Nadu with 950 candidates, including 76 women candidates, in 39 parliamentary constituencies. The smallest number is in Nagaland, which has three candidates – all men.

The second phase of the Lok Sabha elections 2024 will be held on April 26 across 88 seats in 12 states and UTs — Tripura, Assam, West Bengal, Karnataka, Kerala, Bihar, Chhattisgarh, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Rajasthan, Jammu & Kashmir, and Uttar Pradesh, along with one part of Manipur (Outer Manipur). The remaining five phases of the Lok Sabha elections 2024 are scheduled on May 7, May 13, May 20, May 25, and June 1. The counting of votes will take place on June 4.