With 59 winners of the total 556 contestants, women candidates seem to have had a dream run in the 2009 Lok Sabha elections. May 16 will tell if their success story repeats this time too.
Congress president Sonia Gandhi topped the list of best performing women candidates in 2009, bagging 72.23 per cent of total votes polled in Rae Bareli. She was followed by the NCP’s Supriya Sule, who got 66.46 per cent of the total votes polled in Baramati. Women candidates in Gujarat also fared well in the 2009 electoral battle field. BJP candidates Jat Poonamben (50.58 per cent), Darshana Vikram Jardosh (52.45 per cent) and Patel Jayshreeben Kanubhai (48.31 per cent) won with good margins. Congress’ Prabha Kishore Tavid (46.89 per cent) and Nilaben Virjibhai Thummar (40.10 per cent) also performed well.
Interestingly, in Kerala, women were clearly not preferred. CPI(M)’s Sindhu Joy and Satheedevi lost despite securing more than 43 per cent of the total votes polled in Ernakulam and Vadakara, respectively. In Kasargod, Congress candidate Shahida Kamal also could not be successful.
In neighbouring Tamil Nadu, the story was more or less the same. Despite securing more than 30 per cent of the total votes polled, Vairam Tamilarasi (AIADMK), Gayathri (DMK) and Sarubala Thondaiman (Congress) lost. However, Helen Davidson (DMK) won with a good margin.
In Andhra Pradesh, TRS candidate Vijaya Shanthi secured 36.67 per cent of total votes polled in Medak and won. Similarly, Congress candidates Botsa Jhansi Lakshmi (40.36 per cent), Daggubati Purandeshwari (36.43 per cent) and Panabaka Lakshmi (44.15 per cent) also won. However, Congress’s firebrand leader Renuka Chowdhury secured 33.36 per cent of total votes polled in Khammam, but lost. In Assam, BJP’s Bijoya Chakravarty won after securing 44.74 per cent of total votes polled in Gauhati. In Lakhimpur, Congress’ Ranee Neerah (38.73 per cent) also won.
In Bihar, Rama Devi (BJP) won from Sheohar, bagging 40.80 per cent of total votes polled. Congress candidate Meira Kumar (Sasaram) and JD(U)’s Aswamedh Devi (Ujiarpur) and Meena Singh (Arrah) won with a little more than 30 per cent of total votes polled in their constituencies. In Haryana, Congress candidate Shruti Choudhry won with 35.03 per cent of total votes polled in Bhiwani. In Karnataka, BJP’s J Shanta won with 46.72 per cent of total votes polled in Bellary. But, despite securing 41.63 per cent of votes, Margaret Alva of the Congress lost from Uttara Kannada. In MP, BJP’s Yasodhara Raje who contested from Gwalior pulled off a win with 43.19 per cent of total votes polled and Sumitra Mahajan won from Indore with 48.77 per cent votes. Congress candidates Meenakshi Natrajan (Mandsaur, 48.80 per cent) and Rajesh Nandini Singh (Shahdol, 41.86 per cent) also won the elections.
In Maharashtra, besides Sule of the NCP, Shiv Sena’s Bhavana Gawali won with 45.76 per cent of the total votes polled in Yavatmal-Washim and Congress’s Priya Dutt with 48.05 per cent votes in Mumbai North Central. With 45.14 per cent votes, NCP’s Agatha Sangma was also successful from Tura in Meghalaya.
In Uttar Pradesh, BSP’s Tabassum Begum (Kairana, 39.05 per cent), Rajkumari Chauhan (Aligarh, 27.95 per cent) and Seema Upadhyay (Fatehpur Sikri, 30.19 per cent), SP’s Jaya Prada (Rampur, 38.06 per cent), RLD’s Sarika Singh (Hathras, 38.23 per cent), BJP’s Menaka Gandhi (Aonla, 30.73) and Congress’ Annu Tandon (Unnao, 52.57 per cent) were successful in the battle for the Lok Sabha. In West Bengal, Congress’ Deepa Dasmunshi (Raiganj, 50.29 per cent) and Mausam Noor (Maldaha Uttar, 47.78 per cent), and TMC’s Kakoli Ghosh (Barasat, 50.95 per cent), Mamata Banerjee (Kolkata Dakshin, 57.19 per cent) and Ratna De (Hooghly, 49.37 per cent) were winners.