The 17th Lok Sabha will see the highest representation of women ever - 78. The representation of women as a percentage of total MPs has slowly increased from 5% in the first Lok Sabha to 14% now.
In 2014, 62 women MPs were elected.
This time, the All India Trinamool Congress (TMC) and Biju Janata Dal (BJD) ensured that a third of their tickets was given to women candidates. The TMC fielded 21 women of which nine won, while six of the seven BJD women candidates emerged victorious.
Here are a few first-time women MPs to look out for:
Ramya Haridas
Ramya Haridas, MP-elect from Alathur, at a meet-the-press programme in Kozhikode on Thursday.
An Adivasi rights activist, Ramya is the second Dalit woman MP from Kerala. She won the Alathur constituency for the Congress-led United Democratic Front. Hailing from a humble background in Kunnamangalam, Kozhikode district, she sang songs to reach out to people during her campaign. She is a graduate in music.
The 32-year-old defeated two-time incumbent PK Biju in a constituency known as a citadel of the Communist Party of India (Marxist). She is the only woman elected to Lok Sabha from Kerala in 2019.
Chandrani Murmu
Chandrani Murmu campaigns in Odisha’s Keonjhar. Photo: Special Arrangement
Chandrani Murmu (Centre) is the youngest-ever Lok Sabha MP. The 25-year-old, granddaughter of former MP Hariharan Soren, won from Odisha’s Keonjhar on a BJD ticket. She defeated two-time BJP MP Ananta Nayak by a margin of 66,203 votes. Ms. Murmu earned her B. Tech degree from a Bhubaneswar-based engineering college.
Jothimani S.
Jothimani
Jothimani S., elected from the Karur constituency, is the only woman MP from the Congress party in Tamil Nadu. She defeated veteran AIADMK leader M. Thambidurai. The 43-year-old writer has a Masters degree in philosophy from Annamalai University and is known for her short stories.
Daughter of a farmer in Karur district’s Periya Thirumangalam village, Jothimani entered politics when she was 22 and became an active member of the Indian Youth Congress. She served as Indian Youth Congress national coordinator for Kerala in 2008 and as its general secretary from 2009 to 2012.
Sumalatha Ambareesh
Sumalatha
Actor Sumalatha Ambareesh, an independent candidate backed by the BJP, won in Mandya against actor Nikhil Kumaraswamy from the JD(S). Mr. Nikhil is Karnataka CM H.D.Kumaraswamy’s son and grandson of former Prime Minister H.D.Deva Gowda.
She forayed into politics after the death of her husband Ambareesh, veteran Congress leader. Ms. Sumalatha has acted in over 220 films in Kannada, Malayalam, Tamil, Telugu and Hindi in a career spanning over four decades.
Pramila Bisoyi
Pramila Bisoi with party supporters after her Lok Sabha win.
Pramila has been a self-help group activist for over 18 years. She won the Aska Lok Sabha constituency for the Biju Janata Dal.
Fondly known as Pari Maa (Fairy Mother), Pramila comes from a farmer’s family.
She is confident of using Odia as the medium of communication to take up regional issues.
B. Venkata Satyavathi
YSRCP candidates Gudivada Amarnath (Anakapalle Assembly) and B. Venkata Satyavathi (Anakapalle Lok Sabha) in Visakhapatnam on Thursday.
Popular gynaecologist in her area, Dr. B.V.Satyavathi won the Anakapalli Lok Sabha seat against TDP’s Adari Anand Kumar.
The YSRCP candidate won by a margin of 90,000 votes.
Mahua Moitra
Mahua Moitra first drew national attention when videos of her showing the middle finger to television news anchor Arnab Goswami went viral. An investment banker who grew up in Kolkata, Ms. Moitra went to college in the United States and worked at JP Morgan for several years, before taking the plunge into politics.Ms. Moitra contested in the rural Krishnanagar constituency in Nadia district of West Bengal as the Trinamool Congress candidate. She defeated her BJP opponent – former footballer Kalyan Chaubey – by a margin of more than 65,000 votes.
Mahua Moitra first drew national attention when videos of her showing the middle finger to television news anchor Arnab Goswami went viral. An investment banker who grew up in Kolkata, Ms. Moitra went to college in the United States and worked at JP Morgan for several years, before taking the plunge into politics. Ms. Moitra contested in the rural Krishnanagar constituency in Nadia district of West Bengal as the Trinamool Congress candidate. She defeated her BJP opponent – former footballer Kalyan Chaubey – by a margin of more than 65,000 votes.
