TMC sends 3rd highest no. of women MPs to Parl among 73 nationwide

Kolkata: Among the 29 newly elected MPs from the Trinamool Congress (TMC), 11 are women who are set to take their seats in Parliament.

A total of 73 women were elected to the 18th Lok Sabha on June 4, with Bengal contributing the third-highest number of women MPs.

Among the newly elected women candidates to the 18th Lok Sabha, 30 are from the BJP, followed by 14 from the Congress, 11 from the Trinamool Congress, 4 from the Samajwadi Party, 3 from the DMK, and 2 each from the JDU and LJP (R).

According to Election Commission of India (ECI) data, the 18th Lok Sabha will have over 13.44 per cent women MPs, one of the highest proportions since 1952.

The 17th Lok Sabha had the most women MPs at 78, which was over 14 per cent of the total. The 16th Lok Sabha had 64 women members, while the 15th had 52.

In the TMC, many of the 11 newly elected candidates are new faces. Rachana Banerjee, the party’s candidate in the Hooghly Lok Sabha constituency, made her political debut this year and secured a victory over her arch-rival, BJP’s Locket Chatterjee, who was the MP in the previous term.

June Malia who won from Midnapore seat on a TMC ticket is going to the Parliament for the first time. Malia who was currently an MLA defeated BJP’s Agnimitra Pal in Midnapore.

TMC’s Saayoni Ghosh who won from Jadavpur is also a new face.

Sharmila Sarkar who has won on TMC ticket from Burdwan East is going to be an MP for the first time. On the other hand, BJP will have no women MP from Bengal as no women candidates won the elections this year.

This was the first Lok Sabha election after the Women’s Reservation Bill was passed in the Parliament. In 2019, 78 women MPs were elected to the Lok Sabha. In the run-up to the 2024 polls, 797 women candidates filed their nominations across the country.