The 17th Lok Sabha Elections has the highest number of women elected in the polls. According to reports, of the 542 MPs who will take oath as members of the lower house in the next few days, 78 are women, with Uttar Pradesh and West Bengal leading at 11 each. 724 women candidates contested from across the country.
While this year female MPs stand at 14 per cent, in 16th Lok Sabha, 64 women had won, while 52 women were elected to the 15th Lok Sabha elections. Of the women winners, celebrities are Smriti Irani, Mimi Chakraborty, Hema Malini, Nusrat Jahan, and Kirron Kher.
Despite losing out to Rahul Gandhi in 2014, Irani took him on in Amethi this year. She managed to defeat the three-time parliamentarian from the Nehru-Gandhi family seat.
A total of 34 women MPs in Parliament will be from the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), which had fielded 53 women candidates. In comparison, All India Trinamool Congress (TMC) had fielded 41 percent of women candidates while Biju Janata Dal (BJD) had fielded 33 percent. Here are the women who are going to be the representatives in the Lower House.
Celebrities
Out of the 78 women who won, few are celebrities, such as Smriti Irani, Mimi Chakraborty, Hema Malini, Nusrat Jahan, and Kirron Kher.
Newbie Mimi Chakraborty, fielded by AITC, well-known model and actor from West Bengal, beat Anupam Hazra of BJP in Jadavpur. Making her debut alongside 30-year-old Mimi this year was 29-year-old Nusrat Jahan, a model and a prominent actor in the Bengali film industry, from Basirhat, West Bengal.
Smriti Irani who joined BJP in 2003 took on Rahul Gandhi in Amethi this year even though she lost to him in 2014. She managed to defeat the three-time parliamentarian from the Nehru-Gandhi family seat and Congress stronghold, Amethi.
Hema Malini like her feisty character Basanti from Sholay, rode to victory in Mathura on the BJP ticket. Kirron Kher, a familiar face on television, was elected to the Lok Sabha in 2014 from Chandigarh, and this was a repeat of the same.
Veterans
Seasoned politician Meenakshi Lekhi of BJP won from New Delhi. She is the national spokesperson of BJP, who was retained her seat from the 2014 election. Veteran Harsimrat Kaur Badal won from Bathinda, Punjab. A part of the Shiromani Akali Dal party, the 52-year-old started her political career in 2009.
Sonia Gandhi, the former President of Indian National Congress (INC) won from Rae Bareli in Uttar Pradesh, while Maneka Gandhi who is the Union Cabinet Minister for Women & Child Development in the Narendra Modi government, won from Sultanpur in Uttar Pradesh. An animal rights activist, she has authored several books and is known for her work on maternity benefits.
Women in politics
As many as 222 women contested the polls independently. Four transgender candidates contested the elections independently. The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) was the only party to field a transgender nominee, but all transgender candidates lost in the polls.
While we hope for better representation in the coming years, let’s acknowledge the monumental change that has been achieved so far in the male-dominated political arena in India. Here are all the 78 women MPs aiming to represent you and your concerns in the Parliament:
West Bengal
- Mimi Chakraborty, Jadavpur – AITC
- Aparupa Poddar, Arambag – AITC
- Locket Chatterjee, Hooghly – AITC
- Pratima Mondal, Joynagar – AITC
- Sajda Ahmed, Uluberia – AITC
- Sougata Roy, Dum Dum – AITC
- Kakoli Ghosh Dastidar, Barasat – AITC
- Mala Roy, Kolkata Dakshin – AITC
- Mahua Moitra, Krishnanagar – AITC
- Deboshree Chowdhury, Raiganj – BJP
- Nusrat Jahan Ruhi, Basirhat – AITC
- Satabdi Roy (Bannerjee), Birbhum – AITC
Uttar Pradesh
- Anupriya Patel, Mirzapur – Apna Dal
- Sonia Gandhi, Rae Bareli – INC
- Sanghmitra Maurya, Badaun – BJP
- Keshari Patel, Phulpur – BJP
- Smriti Irani, Amethi – BJP
- Hema Malini, Mathura – BJP
- Maneka Gandhi, Sultanpur – BJP
- Rita Bahuguna Joshi, Prayagraj – BJP
- Niranjan Jyoti, Fatehpur – BJP
- Rekha Verma, Dhaurahra – BJP
- Sangeeta Azad, Lalganj – BSP
Maharashtra
- Poonam Mahajan, Mumbai North Central – BJP
- Heena Vijayakumar Gavit, Nandurbhar – BJP
- Bhavana Gawali, Yavatmal-Washim – Shivsena
- Bharati Pravin Pawar, Dindori – BJP
- Supriya Sule, Baramati – NCP
- Pritam Munde, Beed – BJP
- Raksha Khadse, Raver – BJP
- Navnit Rana, Amravati – Independent (NCP support)
Orissa
- Aparajita Sarangi, Bhubaneswar – BJP
- Sangeeta Kumari Singh Deo, Bolangir -BJP
- Pratima Bisoyi, Aska – BJP
- Rajashree Mallick, Jagatsinghpur – BJD
- Manjulata Mandal, Bhadrak – BJD
- Chandrani Murmu, Keonjhar – BJD
Gujarat
- Bharati Ben Shiyal, Bhavnagar – BJP
- Geetaben Rathva, Chhota Udaipur – BJP
- Poonamben Maadam, Jamnagar – BJP
- Darshana Jardosh, Surat – BJP
- Ranjanben Bhatt, Vadodara – BJP
- Shardaben Anilbhai Patel, Mahesana – BJP
Andhra Pradesh
- Chinta Anuradha, Amalapuram – YSCRP
- Goddeti Madhavi, Aruku – YSCRP
- Vanga Geethaviswanath, Kakinada – YSCRP
- Beesetti Venkata Satyavathi, Anakapalli – YSCRP
Madhya Pradesh
- Pragya Singh Thakur, Bhopal – BJP
- Sandhya Ray, Bhind – BJP
- Riti Pathak, Sidhi – BJP
- Himadri Singh, Shahdol – BJP
Chattisgarh
- Jyotsna Mahant, Korba – INC
- Gomtee Sai, Raigarh – BJP
- Renuka Singh, Sarguja – BJP
Bihar
- Rama Devi, Sheohar – BJP
- Veena Devi, Vaishali – LJP
- Kavita Singh, Siwan – JD(U)
Rajasthan
- Ranjeeta Kohli, Bharatpur – BJP
- Jas Kaur Meena, Dausa – BJP
- Diya Kumari, Rajsamand – BJP
Tamil Nadu
- Kanimozhi Karunanidhi, Thoothukudi – DMK
- Thamizhachi Thangapandian (Sumathy), Chennai South – DMK
- Jothimani Sennimalai, Karur – INC
Karnataka
- Sumalatha Ambareesh, Mandya – Independent (BJP support)
- Shobha Karandlaje, Udupi Chikmagalur – BJP
Jharkhand
- Annapurna Devi, Kodarma – BJP
- Geeta Kora, Singhbhum- INC
Tripura
Pratima Bhowmik, Tripura West – BJP
Haryana
Suneeta Duggal, Sirsa – BJP
Meghalaya
Agatha K Sangma, Tura – NPP
Assam
Queen Ojha, Gauhati – BJP
Kerala
Ramya Haridas, Alathur – INC
Punjab
Preneet Kaur, Patiala – INC
Telangana
Maloth Kavitha, Mahabubabad – TRS
Uttarakhand
Mala Rajya Laxmi Shah, Tehri Garhwa – BJP
