While 845 candidates are set to enter the fray for the Lok Sabha polls in Tamil Nadu, a paltry seven per cent of them will be women. However, this meagre number is an improvement compared to 2009 elections, when only 5.83 per cent of the total 823 candidates were women.
Data released by the Elections Department here revealed that 61 of the valid contestants withdrew their nominations by Wednesday, the last day for withdrawal. Of the 845 candidates this time, 55 are women. There is one candidate in the others category. As it has been the case in the last few elections, parliamentary seats in the Chennai region topped the list as far as number of contestants was concerned.
While 45 candidates will fight it out in the Chennai (North) constituency, Chennai (South) comes a close second with 42 nominees.
The two Chennai constituencies are followed by Madurai, Ramanathapuram, Tiruchi and Tirunelveli, where 34, 33, 31 and 30 candidates respectively will contest. Chennai (Central), where former union minister Dhayanidhi Maran, is contesting, will see 19 others in fray.
