Add this to the many stories being told about Verdict 2009. The number of women MPs elected to the new Lok Sabha is the highest since Independence: 59 out of 543. The number had never crossed 50 before — the largest representation of women till now had been in the thirteenth Lok Sabha, 49.

Before this verdict, the proportion of women MPs in the House had never crossed 10 per cent — it stopped at 9.02 per cent in 1999. The first Lok Sabha had 4.4 per cent women; the sixth, in 1977, had the smallest proportion ever, 3.5 per cent.

The BJP fielded the largest number of women candidates — 44 to the Congress’s 43. Twenty-three of the Congress’s women candidates, however, won, much more than the BJP’s 13.

Uttar Pradesh has contributed the most women members: 13. West Bengal is second, with seven.

Within the story of positive change, however, lies a story of continuity. There has been no change in the number of women candidates fielded by the major parties in recent elections, their number remaining under 1 in every 10 candidates. This time, the Congress fielded 43 women out of

440, BJP 44 out of 433. In 2004, the Congress list of 414 had 45 women; the BJP list of 364 only 30.

The CPM and CPI, parties that pride themselves on being more progressive than others, have done worse on this count.

In 2009, only six of the CPM’s 82 candidates (7.3 per cent) and four of the CPI’s 56 (7.1 per cent) were women. Five years ago, the numbers were eight out of 69 (11.6 per cent) and two out of 33 (6 per cent).

... contd.