Agartala , Feb 13, 2025, Special Correspondent

Agartala, Feb 13: Certain states and Union Territories have made significant strides in electing women candidates, with Tripura and Dadra & Nagar Haveli and Daman & Diu (DNH and D&D) giving a remarkable 50 per cent representation to them among their elected MPs.

According to the 'Atlas-2024' released by the Election Commission on Wednesday, West Bengal led the way in electing the highest number of women candidates in the Lok Sabha elections held last year, with 11 securing parliamentary seats.

On the other hand, Uttar Pradesh elected the highest number of 73 male candidates. While West Bengal sends 42 MPs to the lower house of Parliament, Uttar Pradesh sends 80.

Informatively, out of 543 members, the present Lok Sabha has as many as 74 women members. Ironically, as many as 152 constituencies across the country had no women candidates at all.

The EC data showed that in terms of participation of women, Maharashtra once again led the race with 111 female candidates contesting, followed by Uttar Pradesh (80) and Tamil Nadu (77).

After Tripura and Dadra & Nagar Haveli and Daman & Diu (DNH and D&D), the national capital of Delhi followed by giving 28.6 per cent representation to women, Chhattisgarh (27.3 per cent) and West Bengal (26.2 per cent).

In the 2024 elections to the Lok Sabha, another interesting trend emerged -- for the second time in the history of India's elections -- when female voter participation rate (VTR) surpassed that of male voters at the national level. The turnout of women was 65.78 per cent as compared to 65.55 per cent for men.